


We'll be Better Around the Second Time

by Cantabo



Series: Incompleteness in Absence [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Happy Ending, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mature Stiles, Minor Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Minor Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Stiles Leaves Beacon Hills, Stiles is Pushed Out of the Pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-01 23:24:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10932189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantabo/pseuds/Cantabo
Summary: It's been months. Months of fading contact with the pack. Months of the silent treatment from his father. Months of nothing but himself and the occasional lesson with Deaton to entertain him.It's too much, and eventually, Stiles leaves.For years, everything goes great, until of course his dad gets injured, and he is suddenly forced to deal with people he thought he left behind in his past for good.OR: Stiles gets pushed out of the pack, hits the road, makes new friends, learns how to grow up, and falls in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, good news for you guys! I already have this story finished, which means you won't have to wait 8 months for me to actually put out chapters. I'll be posting them as I proofread over the next week or so, but rest assured you'll get the full story. :)
> 
> Fun fact: I have like 19 unfinished teen wolf fics, and this is the second one I've ever been able to complete, the first one that has any sort of real plot, so yay!

It’s been months. Months of fading contact with the pack. Months of the silent treatment from his father. Months of nothing but himself and the occasional lesson with Deaton to entertain him.

Stiles can’t do it anymore. Can’t stand watching the pack only tell him about half the meetings. Can’t stand seeing the aftermath of bonding time, fights, changes in the pack’s dynamics, all while being out of the loop. He’s tired of the way they call him when they need help and only then. Stiles isn’t even sure if Derek realizes how absent Stiles has been from the pack.

He can’t stand the way he knows Dad is worried about him, but can’t talk to him without spilling the whole werewolves-are-real bucket all over the place. So he and Dad don’t talk. Won’t talk. Dad can’t even look him in the eye anymore.

He starts skipping lunch to hang out in the library, and no one notices. Scott has sat next to him in every class they have together their senior year and has said maybe 10 words to Stiles. Barely looked at him.

He lays awake at night and wishes he was able to cry, but he’s just empty inside. He knows he’s depressed, and he feels like he’s drowning. He doesn’t care what happens to the pack anymore. Not when he sees them huddled together, and none of them even notice he isn’t there. When they all talk about movie nights that he wasn’t invited to, he feels himself empty out more and more.

It’s too much.

So Stiles decides he’s going to leave.

He packs a duffle bag of clothes and grabs his laptop and Deaton’s book, keeping them in his closet until he’s ready to go. He changes his mind a few times, but each time he’s pushed a little farther away, he just heads right back to deciding to leave.

The night he finally works up the nerve to leave, Stiles feels a sharp pang of guilt at the thought leaving. How can he do this to his dad? Sure, they haven’t been getting along well lately, but Dad has always done everything for him.

Stiles walks downstairs, hearing the TV on in the living room. He stands in the doorway for a second, watching Dad read.

“Do you need something, Stiles?” Dad asks. Stiles jumps, but walks in.

“Um, I-”

Stiles freezes, unsure of where to even start. How can he even begin to explain everything? Dad raises an eyebrow at him.

“You…?” He prompts.

Stiles stands there, frozen. Everything he’s been holding in for months is suddenly mute in the back of his mind, and he can’t get the words out. He opens and closes his mouth, but can’t manage to get anything out.

“Okay, well.” Dad says, frowning at him and turning back to his book. Stiles feels something inside him break, and he backs up slowly.

“Night dad. Love you,” He says quietly. Dad nods and hums, but says nothing.

He feels so numb when he gets back to his room. He knows that logically Dad has no idea what’s really going on with Stiles, that what just happened was a last ditch effort to save their relationship, but he doesn’t care anymore. He hates this fucking toxic town, needs to be out of it. He needs to be gone.

So he sits down and writes a note, just so Dad won’t worry too much, or think he’s been kidnapped.

_Dad-_

_I’m really sorry I haven’t been able to talk to you lately. I just don’t think I know how to say anything, anymore. I have to clear my head, everything is just too much. I feel so alone, and there’s no break from it, and I just need to leave for now. I can’t stay in this town any more, not when it’s drowning me in silence. I promise I’m going to come back, I do. I will come back, but for now, just for a while, I need to go._

_I love you,_

_Stiles_

It’s a shitty note and he knows it. He hates himself a little when he reads over it.

It’s way too vague and he’s going to break Dad’s heart, but even the guilt from that is shadowed by the emptiness he feels inside him. He leaves his cell phone on his bed, and makes sure he’s disabled any location trackers on his laptop.

In the middle of the night, he loads his jeep and leaves. He stops at an ATM and empties his checking account, leaving his savings alone. And then he’s gone.

-

Stiles has been gone for three weeks and he’s feeling guilty that he doesn’t feel guilty.

It’s a sunny day in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles agrees with the sun. So does Stiles, it turns out. He feels lighter than he has in years, since Scott got bit and everything took a 180 down spiral for the worst. He’s been sleeping in the back of his jeep and not even that is messing with his mood.

He changed his license plates when he got to L.A., and he doesn’t spend two nights in a row in the same area of town. Los Angeles is so big he figures he’s got at least another week before he needs to hit the road.

It’s a Thursday afternoon and Stiles is slumming it in a pizza cafe, hunched over Deaton’s book in a corner booth. There’s a bunch of other people in the cafe, but Stiles isn’t too worried about anyone accidentally seeing his book. Even if they someone does get a good look at it, this is Los Angeles, and the tolerance for weird is much higher than it ever was in Beacon Hills.

A girl around his age holding hands with a young boy walk by to Stiles’ table and stops.

“Would you mind if we shared the booth with you? It’s looking like we won’t be able to get a table otherwise,” she says, looking apologetic. Stiles closes his book hastily and nods, shoving it back onto the seat next to him.

“Yeah, of course, do you need me to move? I’m done eating,” Stiles offers, pointing towards the door. He can always crank the windows down in the jeep and get some reading done.

“Oh, no need. I’m Sophia, and this is my brother, Ben,” she says, and Ben smiles shyly from next to her.

Stiles smiles in greeting, and shifts in his seat.

“I’m actually very interested in the book you have there,” Sophia says, gesturing to the book next to Stiles. He leans over it slightly and fakes a smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing, just a gag gift I got from an old friend,” Stiles says, aiming for casual and landing miles from it.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Sophia says, smirking at him. “I have a very similar book back home. It was a gift from my mentor. I bet that’s how you got yours, too. Isn’t it?” she needles. Stiles shoulders drop so quickly, relieved that he doesn’t have to make another shitty lie or a hasty retreat to avoid a conversation about why he has a book written in ancient Latin.

“Yeah, it is,” Stiles says, nodding. She smiles at him again, that mischievous look still in her eye. It’s not menacing, but she looks like she has a penchant for getting into trouble. Stiles admires it instantly.

Sophia’s pretty. She has tight ringlet curls that spiral out and down, and the best green eyes. Her golden brown skin tone makes her look like she’s otherworldly, and Stiles is slightly captivated.

“I knew it. Damn, I’m awesome,” She says, holding her chin out in mock pride, and Stiles laughs.

“Hey, if you’ve got it, might as well flaunt it,” Stiles says back, playing along. She busts out a belly laugh, and it’s great, so full of joy. It makes Stiles want to hear it again.

“Where are you training? I’ve never seen someone have the balls to bring that book out in public,” She asks, raising an eyebrow. The boy next to her, Ben, nods his head solemnly as he stuffs his mouth full of pizza.

“Oh- um. I’m not exactly training anywhere at the moment,” Stiles says, looking away. He feels a little guilty leaving Deaton, but having one lesson every three odd weeks is barely having any lessons at all. He can’t blame the man, he has to put his job first, but Stiles can’t exactly consider him a teacher with such infrequent lessons.

“Really?” She asks, looking at him intensely. Stiles nods, eyes on the table.

“Why not? I’ve never heard of someone not having a trainer while using that book,” She says, narrowing her eyes at him. Stiles shifts uncomfortably, and looks away again.

“Yeah. It’s a long story,” Stiles says.

“Well fuck, we’ve got all the time in the world, don’t we, Ben?” She asks, looking down at the boy. He nods, eyes big and green just like hers.

Stiles tells her the story, trying to keep things brief and also trying to leave out the werewolves. Just because she knows about magic doesn’t mean that werewolves are a thing she’s aware of. Even if she does know about them, the less supernatural attention he draws to Beacon Hills, the safer his dad is

“So, basically… Your old friends suck, your trainer couldn’t devote enough time to correctly train you, and you left because you hated living there?” Sophia asks, after Stiles has finished his story and stolen a piece of her pizza.

“Basically.”

“Wow, that’s some messed up shit. I’m so sorry your trainer wasn’t good to you,” Sophia says, her eyes softening. Ben nods again, eyes never leaving the piece of pizza he’s holding.

“He just didn’t really have enough time to take me on. I don’t know why I asked,” Stiles says, shrugging.

“Hey! No.” Sophia snaps her fingers to get his attention. “The first rule of growing up is to never, ever make excuses or apologize for someone else’s mistakes. If they can’t own up to it, they’re not worth your time.”

Stiles stares at her in astonishment. He knows that she hasn’t actually said anything truly groundbreaking, but suddenly he’s feeling so different about everyone in Beacon Hills. He’s been making excuses for them for months now, but he shouldn’t have been. They treated him bad and that’s not his fault. If they can’t own up to it then why should he bother being sad over them?

“I know right? I’m pretty smart for being 20,” Sophia says, smiling proudly. Next to her, Ben rolls his eyes, and Stiles feels a little bubble of affection for him.

“Well…” Stiles trails off, jokingly. She laughs and kicks his leg from under the table.

“Hush. So, if you’re not training with anyone, why don’t you train with my aunt? She trained me, and my older sister, and I can vouch that she’s a good teacher,” Sophia says, smiling. Stiles hesitates, shifting in his seat.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if me staying in Los Angeles for a long time is a good idea,” Stiles says, trying to make some sort of excuse to keep himself from making a long term commitment like that.

“Hey, I know I’m freaking you out. How about I take you to meet her, and you see how you feel about her? She’s pretty fucking cool, but you should be the one in charge of all your own decisions,” She says, smiling softer.

Stiles feels a little bit better, and finds himself nodding before he really knows what he’s going.

“Yeah, I think I can do that.”


	2. Chapter 2

It’s a two hour drive to whatever it is that Sophia’s guiding him to, but it’s totally worth the drive. The whole way to wherever they’re going is beautiful. They drive east, thankfully, instead of north. The drive is full of desert scenery, which is a nice change from the wet greenery of Beacon Hills. The whole drive is so relaxing, Stiles loves it. He feels like a part of him would be totally comfortable staying here for a while.

Stiles follows them in his jeep, unwilling to leave his car in Los Angeles unattended that long, or leave himself without a way to leave. He might be young, but he’s not stupid.

He blares his radio the whole way over, windows down and singing along the entire time. He’s been doing that lately, because no one yells at him to stop anymore, and it’s nice.

Sophia takes a turn onto a random gravel road, and Stiles follows, barely making the turn. They head down the road for almost 20 minutes before they come up upon a small neighborhood of 5 houses, all around a cul de sac type circle.

Sophia pulls over to the first house on the right, where a woman in her mid forties is waiting. She’s wearing a lavender sun dress and has long hair braided down her back. She waves kindly when they stop, and heads to Sophia as she gets out of the car. Ben jumps out of the passenger seat and races across the street, running into one of the other houses.

“Sweet Sophia, always bringing in strays,” the woman says, kissing Sophia’s forehead.

“Hey, this one isn’t a stray, he’s a rescue!”

Stiles rolls his eyes, and the woman groans.

“Why do I feel like a den mother?” Val mutters to herself, ruffling Sophia's hair affectionately.

Sophia gives her a blinding smile and then clears her throat. 

“Aunt Val, this is Stiles. Stiles, this is my aunt Val. You should probably call her Val if you know what’s good for you,” Sophia says, smirking. Val smacks her arm lightly, and points to the house that Ben ran into.

“Go home and say hi to your father, he’s been trying to keep your sister happy all damn day long,” Val says. Sophia’s eyes widen and she nods, turning to Stiles.

“I’ll be back in a little bit. Lauren is really pregnant and really cranky,” Sophia says, running off before Stiles can reply. Stiles is kind of baffled as to what has happened in the last minute, and Val can clearly tell that.

“That girl is something else.” Val shakes her head while smiling. “Anyways. I’m Val, Sophia didn’t say much about you, only that you weren’t able to finish training with your old mentor. Do you feel comfortable telling me about it?” Val asks, gesturing for Stiles to follow her into the house. 

She gets them in the kitchen and heads to the stove, grabbing a pot and filling it with water.

“The short version is that he didn’t have enough time to give me the training I needed, and I needed to get out of that town,” Stiles says, looking at the floor. She’s intimidating, and Stiles feels himself get more and more nervous, suddenly wondering if she’s going to call the police and send him home.

Val is silent as she puts the pot of water on the stove and turns it on, then heads to the table and takes Stiles hands.

“I have many questions about you, but first,” Val says, her face taking on a firm look. “Don’t look at the floor when you talk to people. Always look at their eyes, they tell you everything.” Val makes eye contact with Stiles. She doesn’t have Sophia’s green eyes, they’re a dark brown instead, but incredibly soothing. 

Stiles nods, not breaking the eye contact until she smiles and sits back in her seat, studying him. He tries not to fidget, but that only works for a good ten seconds.

“Did you run away from home, Stiles?” Val asks, looking at him.

Stiles looks away for a minute, and then nods. She closes her eyes and nods her head sadly. Stiles thinks for a minute that she’s actually going to call the police and send him home.

“How long have you been away from home?”

“Three weeks.”

“Why did you leave?” 

Stiles hesitates. 

She notices and moves to sit by him again. He looks down, then back at her. “I was so ignored. My pa- friends had been ignoring me for months, my dad couldn’t even look at me, and I couldn’t even practice my magic on a regular basis. I felt like I was drowning, and I needed to get out. I’m glad I did, though. Sleeping in my car has made me happier than I’ve been in 2 years.”

“How old are you?” Val asks, looking at him again.

I’m eighteen,” Stiles lies. She knows it’s a lie, but she just nods. Two months off from being 18 isn’t worth telling her outright, and he does not want to get sent back home.

“Okay. I understand why you left. It’s hard to be a teenager, and it’s impossible to do it alone. As for your magic, I think having such irregular practices are a big part of what made you feel so bad. Magic is such a fickle and uncontrollable thing, and it plays a much bigger role in your life than you think it does.”

“What do you mean?” Stiles asks, confused.

“Magic untapped can make you feel jittery, panicky, and even paranoid. Magic that isn’t being used to it’s full potential or is being ignored can cause drops in mood and energy. You have to take care of yourself, and by extension, your magic. Think of it as protecting a vase of flowers. The flowers are the most intricate part of the entire thing, but without a vase that is stable and strong, the flowers will wilt and die much faster than they normally would,” Val says, using her hands to explain. 

“Faster than they usually would? If the flowers are a metaphor for my magic, does that mean that my magic will die?” Stiles asks, feeling something like panic rise up in him.

“Stiles, breathe,” Val says calmly. “Everything must die eventually, it’s the law of nature. It is the one thing no one can avoid. We must accept it, and appreciate what we have while we have it.”

Stiles calms himself and nods. “So… my goal is to keep my vase strong and sturdy for as long as possible?”

Val smiles and nods. “Exactly. You’re a very bright boy, I can’t see why your teacher couldn’t find the time to work with you,” she says, a frown taking over her face. 

“He didn’t usually have conversations with me. It was more lectures and stuff. They were interesting, though,” Stiles says.

“You’re a budding mage, Stiles. You deserve the nurturing that will help you to learn how to understand your magic and what you can do with it,” Val says, smiling at him as she stands up. 

She fills a teapot with some loose leaf tea and takes the pot of boiling water off the stove. As she pours it into the teapot, she looks at him seriously.

“I would like to work with you, Stiles, if you’ll have me. I’m only going to ask that you do one thing for me in return,” She says, looking at him seriously.

Stiles wants to work with her, and he nods his head, willing to cooperate if it means he can learn about his magic from someone who wants to teach it to him.

“I want you to call your dad,” She says seriously. Stiles looks at her wide eyed, and she holds up a hand to explain.

“You can do it from the city at a pay phone if you want to, if you’re that afraid of going home. He deserves to hear it from you that you’re okay. He loves you, even if things have been hard lately. That is my condition. Can you do that for me?” Val asks. 

Stiles sits there for a second, but he’s already decided, and nods. “I can do that, I know I hurt him when I left, I want him to know I’m okay.”

“Good, I’m glad you and I get to work together, then,” Val says, smiling at him as she pours them both a cup of tea.

-

Sophia drives him to the city the next day, and they both blare the radio the whole way there. He tells her to take him to Culver City, and uses a payphone just outside of LAX, for when Dad inevitably tracks the call. Because he’s completely sure Dad is going to track the call.

Stiles puts a dollar worth of quarters in the machine and dials their home phone number.

It goes to voicemail, and Stiles breathes a sigh of relief.

_ “Hi, you’ve reached the Stilinski’s. If you have information about Stiles, call my cell at 555-0305. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you.” _

Stiles heart clenched at the new outgoing voicemail.

“Um, hi Dad. It’s me. I- I just wanted you to know that I’m okay, and that- Dad, I’m so sorry I left without saying goodbye. I love you, and I miss you. I miss you a lot, but I had to leave. I feel a lot better being away from Beacon Hills, and I know that when I feel completely better I’m going to come back, but I can’t do that yet. I felt so pushed to the side by everyone, no one would really talk to me, and I just hated being there.” 

Stiles breaks off to sniffle, and then adds another quarter to the machine, just to be safe.

“I hope you can forgive me for leaving. I hate that I hurt you, and I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I’m happy here. I found some people that are taking care of me, and are teaching me a lot of stuff that Deaton didn’t have the time to. I- I know that makes no sense, you should probably just ask him what I mean, because there’s no way I can answer your questions through a voicemail,” Stiles says, chuckling awkwardly. 

“But, I’m safe, and I’m happier than I’ve felt in two years. And when I come back, I’m done with the lying to you. You might already know everything at this point, but if you don’t know yet then I’m glad, because I just want- I need you to be safe, and lying to you was the way to do that, and I’m not sorry I did it. I’d lie to you forever if it meant you were safe. I hope you at least know why I lied. I couldn’t risk losing you, too…” Stiles says, breaking off to swallow over the lump in his throat. He takes a deep breath and continues.

“I’m going to go now, but I’m going to write to you, I think. I want you to know that I’m okay, and I’ll call again soon. I love you so much, Dad.”

Stiles stands there for a second before hanging up the phone. He turns back to Sophia, who is waiting with open arms, and he lets her hold him for several minutes before they get back in the car.


	3. Chapter 3

_May 21st_

_Dear Dad,_

_It’s been about a month since I called you, and I have so much to tell you._

_My magic is so incredible to learn about. I feel so comfortable in my own skin for the first time. I learned how to extend my body’s senses, and I don’t think anyone can ever sneak up on me again. Take that, sourwolf (I understand that makes no sense to you, but I think it’s hilarious so I put it in here). I’ve become really good friends with a girl named Sophia. She’s the one who helped me, actually. I was sleeping in the jeep and she made me come home with her to meet her family._

_Her Aunt, Val, is the one who’s been mentoring me. She’s taught me a lot about protective enchantments, and I’ve made some cool necklaces for Sophia and her girlfriend, Tanya, as a thank you for them letting me live in their guest bedroom rent free._

_Sophia’s sister Lauren had a baby the other day, and I got to help deliver it! It was disgusting, but also amazing. I’m forever scared and yet slightly in awe of vaginas, but, after someone sees that I don’t know who wouldn’t feel that way. She named the baby Curtis, and he’s so adorable that I might actually cry._

_I wonder if you liked me this much when I was born. I doubt I was this cute, because this baby is adorable. He has his mom’s green eyes and his dad’s dark brown hair and like a mix of their skin tones and he’s going to grow up and break everyone’s heart by being so wonderful._

_Anyways, I’m almost out of paper, and I don’t actually have any extra that isn’t a receipt from a gas station._

_P.S., I included a little charm. If you don’t think everything I’m telling you is complete bullshit, you should sleep with it under your pillow. It brings peaceful sleep and good dreams._

_I love you._

_I’ll write to you soon,_

_Stiles_

-

_July 15th_

_Dear Dad,_

_I’m officially 18! Well… I mean I have been since June, but still. Val and I have gotten into some really cool lessons. She’s helping me learn how to communicate with the earth and sense imbalances in nature. It’s come in handy, the other day I sensed there was an animal in trouble, and I was able to find exactly where it was._

_Turns out it was a little baby hawk that got a broken leg. I guess the mom abandoned him because he couldn’t fly, but I’m going to take care of him until he’s better, because no one should feel abandoned_ _like i did._ _I named him Commodore, which is such a kick-ass name._

_I finally got around to seeing the newest Avengers movie, and I still love Iron Man more than everyone else. I drove to the city alone, and it was pretty nice. I’ve been having a good time with Sophia and Val, but I wanted a day to myself._

_Anyways, I just wanted to let you know how I’ve been doing._

_OH! Also, just because I think it’s really cool, Val has been teaching me how to levitate stuff. The other day I helped Sophia rearrange her bedroom, and it only took me a minute to have all of her furniture in a different spot. Not too shabby, if I do say so._

_I put a picture in here of me and Sophia. If you want to throw it away or whatever, you can. But, I wanted you to see that I’m okay._

_Love you,_

_Stiles_

-

_November 3rd_

_Dear Dad,_

_Well, I’ve left Sophia and Val’s. Val’s mentoring only lasted me 6 months. Apparently it’s like a two year process, but since I didn’t have anything else to do we just blew through everything. It was really hard to leave, but Val’s given me a lot of really good rules to live by, and one of them was to never hold yourself back because of fear, which is what I was doing._

_I don’t know why I was afraid, life has such a cool way of working itself out. I’m staying near a reservation, and I met this man named Buford, who’s honestly the coolest man I’ve ever met in my life. He’s like this ex biker gang member but he runs a no-kill animal shelter, and it’s the funniest thing to see an old buff dude holding a kitten and cuddling with it._

_Anyways, this guy was raised by a bunch of shape-shifters, if you can believe that. He’s been helping me build up my strength, and I’ve almost got some muscle now, which is pretty cool. Maybe I’ll be able to not suck at lacrosse after another month. He’s also shown me how to hide myself in natural settings. I bet that not even werewolves could find me at this point if I put my mind to it._

_I learned how to teleport, too! TELEPORT. I’m like motherfucking Dumbledore over here! I’m apparating and shit and this is the best thing. Val and Buford both hate that I call it apparating but that’s totally what it is so they can deal with it._

_Anyways, I hope you’re doing okay. I know your birthday is next week, so I’m sending this letter in a little box, with some gifts. There’s a picture of me with some puppies, because who doesn’t love puppies? There’s also four rocks in there, each with the same symbol on them. You should bury one at each corner of the house, if you want to. They’re protective, and they fight against bad karma. There’s also a mug I made when I passed through Albuquerque a while ago. It’s supposed to be the outline of a fox, but it looks more like a deformed banana, so just consider it interpretive art._

_I hope you don’t think I’m full of shit or mentally unstable for telling you about my magic and stuff, but I want to tell you and this was sort of the easiest way, even though it’s the shittiest._

_I love you. Happy birthday._

_Stiles_

-

_February 25th_

_Dear Dad,_

_Oh man, Dad, you should SEE my muscles! (I actually have some muscles now, how cool is that???) Buford kicked my ass into shape, and now I don’t look like such a beanpole. Everyone totally agrees with me on this._

_I’m about to leave Buford’s and head south. The heat has been great, but I want a change of scenery. My magic communes so heavily with nature, and I think that I need to experience all of what nature can do before I try to become fully connected to it. I hear south Texas has some pretty unpredictable weather, and I’m up for that._

_Buford gave me the address to the ranch of the shape-shifters that raised him, and I’m so fucking pumped to meet actual shape-shifters. They’re very private, and the chance to be able to stay with them for a while is so amazing. I’ve written to them a few times to give them a chance to get to know me before I show up there. I think they appreciate that, but who knows?_

_I’m sending you a jar of purified sand. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s really helpful when you’re needing some protection. It works a lot like Mountain Ash, but it doesn’t require magic to pour it, so I think you’ll find it can be useful. Just make a thin line of it at any entrance you don’t want a supernatural being to cross._

_I’ve got to go, I’m heading out really early tomorrow to beat some of the traffic in El Paso, but I’ll write to you soon._

_I love you,_

_Stiles_

-

_June 5th_

_Dear Dad,_

_Well, I’m writing you as an official 19 year old._

_I hope you’re doing okay._

_I’ve learned so much from the shapeshifters. They’re so close knit and in tune with their senses. They have taught me how to truly listen to what the earth is telling me. Alejandra is their leader, and she’s been so great about teaching me how to blend with nature, and how to recognize a shape-shifter from a normal animal. I feel like I’m looking at the world through new eyes._

_I’ve been having an amazing time in Texas. It’s such an interesting place, a really cool mix of cultures. I’ve been down to the border a lot, and I love the family feeling you get when you enter someone’s house. They all call me mijo and feed me so much food, and I feel like they have redefined what the word ‘pack’ means to me._

_What I had in Beacon Hills wasn’t a pack. I was so ignored, no one noticed when I started keeping quiet and stopped showing up to pack meetings, and it hurt. Today I started missing you a lot and went to sit outside, and Gabriella (this sweet little 7 year old shape-shifter, you would love her so much) realized I’d been gone after 5 minutes and immediately came to look for me. She gave me hugs while I cried and told me that she knew you loved me too. It honestly is the most accepted by a peer I’ve felt since my freshman year of high school._

_I miss you so much, Dad. I want to come home, I do. I want to make dinner for you again and watch crappy western films and leave post it notes on the fridge with bad jokes on them for you, but it’s not time yet. I know that makes no sense to you, but it’s not. I have more growing to do before I can come home._

_I’m sending you a necklace I made. It’s purified silver, and it’s for keeping a healthy heart and mind. Please wear it. Even if you threw all the other stuff away and think I’ve lost my mind. I need to do what I can to keep you safe and healthy. I really hope you’ve been laying off the red meat and fast food._

_I’ll write to you soon._

_Love you,_

_Stiles_

-

_December 2nd_

_Dear Dad,_

_I’m so sorry I haven’t written sooner. I hope you weren’t too worried about me._

_I’ve been hopping from place to place lately, and I’ve been learning how to fight._

_Not like street fighting, but how to use my skills and knowledge to keep people safe. I know why you became a police officer, now. I look at the people that I help and I feel like I’ve done this incredible thing. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, and I’ll do what it takes to keep people safe._

_I fought off a troll in Georgia. That’s pretty wild, huh? Trolls smell so fucking bad, you have no idea. They like to hang out in the sewers, if that gives you a better mental image. And there were some pixies in Tennessee that I got to reason with. Pixies are so rash in judgement and love to cause trouble, but if you can calmly get them to talk with you they’re pretty open to listening and they like change, so they’ll admit if they’re wrong._

_I’ve gotten to New England at this point, and this is the biggest part of Nature that I think I was missing. It’s harsh here, and severe, but I’m seeing nature in a whole new way. I’ve been staying with this couple in the woods. I realize how awful that sounds, but don’t worry, they’re both vampires._

_Okay, I know that also sounds awful, but vampires don’t actually drink human blood or kill people. They drink animal blood, and they don’t even kill the animal. It sounds weird and you probably think I’m full of shit, but I promise it’s true. Thomas and Cornelia have been teaching me how to hunt without a weapon (catch and release style). I never knew how hard it was to move through the woods completely silently. I think I owe Derek an apology for calling him a creeper so many times. It’s really fun once you get the hang of it, and he’s probably just trying to have a good time any way he can. He’s still a sourwolf, but maybe not a creeper._

_I’m sending you two gifts, one for your birthday and one for Christmas. The birthday gift is a map with all the places I’ve been marked. I know there’s a lot on there I haven’t told you about, but I figured you could keep track of where I’ve been while I do the same. It’s actually kind of fun._

_The Christmas gift is that leather bound journal. It’s what I’ve been writing in since I was at Val’s. There isn’t really anything interesting in there, just what I’ve been experiencing and all my emotional feelings and shit. But, I wanted you to have it. I don’t really have the room for it when I travel as much as I do, but I figured you might want something to read, and I know it will be safe with you._

_Wow, this letter is really long. Sorry to word vomit at you._

_Love you,_

_Stiles_

-

_March 9th_

_Dear Dad,_

_Wow! So much has happened these last few months. I’ve been up and down the East Coast at least twice._

_I’ve sent you a separate list with everywhere I’ve been, just because it’s too long to include in this letter._

_Um, so this is going to be a short letter because I have a cool surprise._

_But first, I’ve been staying with a group of fae, and they’re so cool. They’re pretty quick tempered, but they’re also really forthcoming about their magic when they trust you, and they’ve been great about agreeing to show me some of their spells and runes in exchange for me fighting off a dark coven a month ago. It’s incredible._

_Anyways. I’m heading to Europe for a few months! Sophia and Tanya called me last week and asked me if I wanted to come with them while they backpacked across the country, and I agreed. So I’m actually writing you from California, where they live. Pretty crazy, right? We’re closer than we’ve been in a year._

_Basically, writing across continents is a pain in the ass, and a lot of letters never get delivered, and I really miss you, so I’m going to call you. I’ll probably wait a few days until I’m pretty sure you’ve gotten this letter. I don’t even know if you read these things, but if you do, I’m going to call. We leave for Europe on March 18th, so l’m probably going to call you on the 15th or 16th._

_I really hope you’re not mad at me. I miss you so much and I want to hear your voice more than anything._

_I’m sending you a map of Europe so you can follow along where I’ve been while I’m there, too._

_Love you,_

_Stiles_

-

Stiles is staring at his phone, shaking. He’s been staring at it for an hour, and he still hasn’t worked up the courage to call.

“Stiles, _for fucks sake_ , if you don’t call him I’m going to do it for you,” Tanya snaps, glaring at him from the kitchen. Stiles laughs nervously and nods. Tanya is all bark and no bite, but her heated encouragement is just what Stiles needed.

“Okay, I’m going to call,” Stiles says, punching in Dad’s cell phone number and hitting the call button. He stands up and heads outside, closing the door behind him.

It rings twice before Dad answers.

“ _Stiles?_ ” Dad asks, sounding breathless, like he ran to get the phone. Stiles heart clenches so hard he actually has to take a breath to steady himself.

“Hi, Dad.”

“ _Oh my god, Stiles. I’m so glad to hear your voice. I love you so much,_ ” Dad says, and Stiles feels himself break down into tears. Dear god, he misses his dad so much he’s feeling physical stomach pain.

“I’m so sorry I left, Dad. I’m so sorry. I needed to leave but I’m so sorry. I love you too.”

“ _I understand, I do. I wasn’t being a good father, and I didn’t notice how much you were in pain. I’m sorry I wasn’t good to you._ ” Stiles shakes his head, not liking what Dad is saying.

“Dad, you’re not a bad father, and you never have been. You’ve always done everything for me, and I’m so sorry I lied to you all those years, I hated myself for lying to you. I just couldn’t stand the thought of losing you,” Stiles says, sinking onto the bench Sophia has on her back porch.

“ _No, don’t apologize. I know why you lied, and I forgive you. I didn’t know how big everything was, I thought you were just pushing me away, and then I pushed you away, and that was wrong of me. I wish I could go back in time and fix the way I treated you._ ”

“We can just call it even?” Stiles asks weakly, laughing slightly.

“ _Okay, we’ll call it even,_ ” Dad says, and Stiles can hear the small smile in his voice.

“So, have you been getting my letters?” Stiles asks, because he has to know.

“ _I have, I have them all still. I’m glad you wrote to me, I liked hearing about what you were doing._ ”

“That’s good, I’m happy you read them, I- I was pretty sure you were probably just throwing them away.”

“ _No, I would never throw them away. I’m not angry with you Stiles. I was at first, but I was mostly just angry with myself. Deaton explained everything to me after your voicemail, and the pack came and apologized to me. Don’t really know why they did that, because I’m not the one who they should be apologizing to.”_

“I’m not mad at them anymore. I just needed to leave. I don’t think I would be in a good place if I hadn’t left. I’m happy that I was able to pull myself out of how depressed I was. I miss you though, so much.”

“ _I miss you too. But let’s not focus on that. Tell me about how you’ve been doing."_

“Well, I’m back at Sophia’s, and it’s really nice to be here again. I stopped and saw Buford on the way back, too. He’s raising a family of fennec foxes, and they’re super cute. I got to help feed them and stuff. Val’s glad to see me, and I’ve been telling her about my time with the Garcia’s, er- the shapeshifters.”

“ _I_ _’m glad you got to see Buford, I know you liked being with him. And I’m happy to hear you’re back with Sophia and Val. I honestly thought you were dating Sophia until you mentioned that she had a girlfriend,”_ Dad says, chuckling. Stiles snorts.

“Um, no. I’m not exactly into girls as much as I thought I was, honestly. It was a pretty funny revelation to have, though.”

“ _Oh, I didn’t know. Did you know that you- when you were here?”_

Stiles swallows, feeling guilty. “No, I figured it out when I was in Texas. I met a guy there, and that sort of cleared a lot of stuff up for me.”

“ _Oh, I’m glad you met someone. What’s his name?”_

“Me and Mark aren’t together, it was more of a fling. But him and I still talk every now and then, he’s a great person to know.”

“ _That’s good. I want you to be happy,”_ Dad says, and his voice takes on a note of sadness. Stiles feels so guilty.

“I am happy, and I can’t wait to come back and see you.”

“ _Me either, kiddo. I’ll have to make up for 3 of your birthdays.”_

“Let’s spend the day watching John Wayne and Clint Eastwood and call it even,” Stiles says, laughing.

“ _You got yourself a deal.”_

“Hey, dad. Um- have- um, nevermind.”

“ _No Stiles, what is it? You can ask me anything.”_

“Have you used any of the stuff I sent you? If not that’s okay, but I was just wondering if you wanted me to stop sending them or something.”

“ _Of course I have. They’ve helped a lot, too. I hadn’t been able to sleep until you sent me that first charm. Deaton is really impressed with your work, apparently, from the way he raised his eyebrows at those rocks you sent me. They helped a few months ago when some omegas blew into town,”_ Dad says, casually throwing that whole omega thing in there.

“What? Wait- omegas? Is all that wild shit still happening in Beacon Hills? Because if it is I’m sending you blessed blades and so much more of that purified sand, and probably a jar of smelling salts, to hide your scent. Oh god, and I’m totally going to get Val and see if she has an extra-”

“ _S_ _tiles, Stiles!”_ Dad says, cutting him off. _"Things have calmed down. The pack has changed a lot since you left. I’ve been helping them, when they need it. But I guess Hale got his game together when you left. Things have been pretty calm for the last year.”_

“Huh, well that’s a surprise. But I’m glad, it wasn’t fair to them to have such a dysfunctional pack.”

“ _I agree. Derek and Isaac are both actually on the force, now. Derek makes a good deputy.”_

Oh god, and now Stiles is picturing Derek in a cop uniform and that’s just unfairly hot. Ugh.

“I cannot imagine Derek being on the right side of the law. That is quite an idea to wrap my head around.”

“ _Now you know how I felt when you sent me that last picture of you. I barely recognize you. You’ve grown up a lot, kiddo.”_

Stiles laughs. “Yeah, you can thank Buford and Thomas and Cornelia for that. They were very adamant about taking care of my body so that I can take care of my magic.”

“ _They’re right. You look like you’re happy.”_

“I am happy, Dad.”

“ _Good, because if anyone makes you sad I might have to shoot them.”_

Stiles laughs, and it feels so good to have Dad laugh with him.

“I miss you so much. I’m going to go, Our flight got moved up to tomorrow and we’re heading out of here pretty early.”

“ _Okay kiddo. I can’t believe you’re heading to Europe. I hope you have an amazing time.”_

“Thanks Dad. I’ll call you when we get settled, okay? It’s going to be expensive to make that long distance call and I don’t want to run up your bill like that.”

“ _Okay. I love you so much, Stiles.”_

“I love you too, Dad.” Stiles hangs up, and wipes his face, feeling a weight lift off his chest. He sits there for a while until Ben finds him, and offers him silent comfort until Stiles feels okay enough to go inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the sweet and wonderful comments, they really are motivating! I'm writing a small companion piece to this, so that's something to look forward to :)
> 
> I dont have any sort of beta with the exception of my best friend who long distance cheerleads me in every fic idea i have, so if anyone is up for bouncing ideas with me and maybe kicking my ass into gear to write for the summer message me on my tumblr: jordansaysno.tumblr.com
> 
> I can offer memes and really fucked up jokes and obscure pop culture references and kick ass music recommendations in exchange (also im totally down for betaing in return, so).


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few months, Stiles travels with Sophia and Tanya, sometimes together, sometimes by himself, but they always meet up again. They make their way from one corner of Europe to the other, helping packs and covens when they can. They couch surf a lot, but it’s never a problem.

Once they leave Europe, they head south to Chile, to see about some rumors they heard about Djinn. Turns out the rumors were right, and that is an unpleasant thing to deal with. It leaves Stiles with a scar on his back, Sophia healing from a bullet wound and Tanya with a broken collarbone. Things are rough after that for a while. They’re all healing and grumpy, and it’s unpleasant.

It’s around then that Sophia and Tanya start fighting. 

It’s awful to watch, and painful to have to stay neutral and try to keep things together. It’s no one’s fault, but Stiles can see them drifting apart. It’s just after Stiles’ 20th birthday when they break up, and Tanya heads back to California to get her stuff and move out.

Sophia is a wreck, and Stiles does everything he can to comfort her. They work on their magic together, learning how to communicate with the earth as a pair instead of individuals. They find a balance of give and take with their magic, and it brings a new form of peace into their lives. He can tell that this is what helps Sophia the most over the next few months. Her and Tanya were together for 4 years, and Stiles can’t imagine the pain of losing a partner after that long.

Stiles tries to call his dad once every two weeks, and for the most part he’s pretty successful at it. He introduces Dad to Sophia over the phone, and they hit it off as fast friends. It makes Stiles feel content and satisfied that the two most important people in his life can get along.

It’s January when they get into real trouble for the first time. They’re in Argentina when things get bad. It’s been a month since they got there, and they’ve mostly just been trading stories with a local coven when they hear screaming coming from outside. The coven’s eyes widen in fear, and Stiles feels a chill of dread down his spine. The stench of pure evil is in the air, choking them all. 

They do everything they can to help, but in the end they can’t fight this thing. There’s no actual word to describe it, because it’s not even a physical being, technically. The coven’s leader calls it a demon, and Stiles thinks that’s about as close to accurate at they’ll get when it comes to names. It’s a spirit of the earth that has grown bitter and twisted, and lost all touch with Mother Nature. It’s nothing that can be stopped or deterred, not even with magic. It is simply something that is.

It’s the worst thing Stiles has ever seen, and he barely manages to get him and Sophia out alive. They couldn’t save anyone except for one mother and child, and even then, they’re both so traumatized by the event that Stiles has to take both of them to the nearest hospital for help. The ‘demon’ touched them both, Stiles on his shoulder when he got too close to the demon, and Sophia on the ankle when she was running from it. 

Stiles is wracked with guilt, and Sophia is the one who has to pull him out of despair this time. 

After that, Stiles can’t sleep. They both have marks from the ‘demon’, a permanent reminder of what they went through, all the people they couldn’t save. Stiles scoured books and talked to everyone he’s ever met that he thinks might have an answer and no one knows of a way to get rid of their marks. As far as Stiles knows it doesn’t do anything but put them both into a melancholy mood when they think about it for too long.

Things after that got easier, for a while. Stiles turns 21 and they celebrate. They slowly get back into fighting against corrupted covens and keeping the peace between supernatural beings, and it’s easy. Stiles and Sophia heal, and slowly they get back to where they’ve been. But, of course, things can’t stay that way forever.

-

They’re in Italy when Stiles gets the call. 

It’s a beautiful morning, the sun has just risen and they’re washing up from last night, cleaning the dishes that they were too lazy to clean yesterday. They’ve rented a little studio apartment for the month, just enjoying their time there, no rush to go anywhere in particular. Stiles’ phone rings in his pocket, and he juggles everything in his arms in order to answer it.

“Hello?” Stiles answers the phone, holding it between his cheek and shoulder as he dries a plate, handing it to Sophia to dry. 

“ _ Hi, is this… oh my god, how do you even say that? Uh… Um, is this Sheriff Stilinski’s son?”  _ A woman asks him. 

Stiles smirks at her reaction to his first name. “That’s me. What can I do for you?” 

“ _ I’m calling from Beacon Hills Medical Center. You are the one currently listed as his emergency contact.” _

Stiles’ heart stops.

“Is he okay?” Stiles demands, dropping the cup he’s holding onto the floor. Sophia is looking at him with concern, both of them ignoring the broken cup.

“ _ Yes, sir. He isn’t critically injured. I am calling to inform you that he was brought in an hour ago with a broken tibia. He’s currently in surgery to set the bone, and will be out soon,” _ she says, her voice even and calming. 

Stiles can feel his heart beating out of control, and he only snaps out of it when Sophia lays a hand gently on his shoulder, shaking him. He looks at her with panicked eyes, and she calmly shushes him.

“We will go wherever you need to. I’m here for you,” She whispers, and it does wonders to calm Stiles down.

“I- I’m out of the country right now, but I’m going to take the next flight I can get to California,” Stiles says, moving to the other side of the room to start shoving things in his bag. Sophia follows his lead and starts packing, too. 

“ _ Okay, that would be helpful. He’s going to be here for a few days, but he’ll need to be signed out into someone’s care.” _

“Yes- absolutely. I’ll be there before-” Stiles cuts off to do the math in his head. “I’ll be there by tomorrow night your time. Is that quick enough?”

“ _ That will be fine, your father will probably be kept for observation for a day or two, but the sooner you can get here the easier the process will be for all of you.” _

“I- yes. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Can I call back to check on how he’s doing in an hour?” Stiles asks, frantically looking around the room as Sophia calmly repacks his bag. She’s got most of their stuff laid out on the bed to pack, and Stiles loves her so much in this moment he wishes they were both straight, just so he could marry her.

“ _ Absolutely, someone is at this desk 24 hours, so we’ll be able to update you whenever you call.” _

“Okay, thank you.” Stiles says, hanging up the phone. He slumps onto the bed and pulls Sophia in for a hug, shaking.

“Stiles, what happened? Is your dad okay?” Sophia asks, raking a hand through his hair.

“He broke his leg, I’m going back to help him. I can drop you off at Val’s if you want before I head north,” Stiles says, pushing the rest of his stuff into his duffle bag, uncaring if anything gets wrinkled.

“Oh, fuck you. You know that I’m here for you,  _ and _ your dad. We’re a package deal, remember?” Sophia gives him a cheeky smile as she shoves the last of her stuff into her bag.

Stiles hugs her again and buries his face in her neck. “Thank you,” he whispers, and she hugs him back tightly.

“Come on, we can have these feelings on the plane. We need to get to your dad.”

-

Twenty hours later, they’re finally landing in Los Angeles. Stiles wishes they could have chosen a closer airport, but Sophia made a good point that Stiles needs to have a car to drive up to Beacon Hills, since they’re going to be there a while.

Val is waiting in the back of the west parking lot, a smile on her face and a sun hat holding her hair down. She hugs them both and kisses their cheeks when she sees them.

“I missed you both so much!” She says, stepping back to look at them both. They haven’t changed much, but she beams at both of them anyways.

“We missed you too. Thank you so much for driving the jeep up,” Stiles says, hugging her tightly. She smells like lavender, and he loves it. It reminds him of when he first met her and calms his nerves. 

“Sweetheart, I would do anything for the two of you and you know it.”

Stiles and Sophia both smile at her, and she touches their cheeks gently.

“Now, get going. I’m going to apparate myself back home, so don’t worry about me,” She says, grinning at Stiles as she makes the Harry Potter reference. They both laugh and nod, and wave to her as she disappears. 

Then they load the jeep and set off, windows down and the radio on low.

“So, what’s the plan?” Sophia asks when they’re out of the city limits. 

Stiles quirks an eyebrow, not taking his eyes off the road.

“The plan?” he asks, laughing.

“Yeah! We’re going back to your hometown, you got super hot while you were gone, are you going to show all those jerks what you’re made of, now?” Sophia asks.

Stiles thinks about it, but the desire to be cruel or mean just isn’t in him. He just feels pretty indifferent to the whole thing at this point. Maybe a little sad at how things turned out, but he isn’t bitter by any means.

“Nah. Being mad at them won’t do any good, and it was so long in the past that being bitter about it seems really petty. I just want to make sure my dad is okay,” Stiles says, frowning. 

“I’m proud of how mature you’re being, I’ve taught you well,” Sophia says, smiling. 

“Well, I did learn from the best,” Stiles says, joking. 

She laughs and nods. “Damn fucking right you did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you guys should be getting two chapters today, because I was planning to drive the ten hours to my mom's house and bad weather has prevented that, so now I have nothing to do but edit. :)
> 
> Also, if anyone is in the mood to laugh at my pain, here's a story: So I just recently moved to my own place, and today I had a washer and dryer scheduled to be delivered from 10:00 - 4:00, so naturally the delivery guys show up at 9:15, while I am still asleep. So because the world hates me, I of course slept naked last night, and I freaked out and yelled at the delivery guys (who were both so very attractive) to hang on for a second, and then I shoved on jeans that were definitely not clean and a sweatshirt that I stole from my younger, smaller-than-me sister, and answered the door dressed like that with my hair tangled in knots, not wearing any sort of underwear. They installed the unit in like ten minutes, and the whole time I attempted to look busy, which actually just consisted of me opening and closing tabs on google the entire time they were here. 
> 
> So, that was a fun way to start my day.


	5. Chapter 5

It’s a nine hour drive from Los Angeles to Beacon Hills, and by the time Stiles and Sophia climb out of the jeep, they’re exhausted. She looks around expectantly, and then looks at him.

“I don’t know why I was expecting it to be raining hellfire here, but I’m honestly a little disappointed it’s not,” Sophia says, smirking as they head towards the front doors of the hospital.

Stiles laughs and throws his head back, ever grateful for her sense of humor.

“Hey, there’s always time,” Stiles says, smiling. “Don’t write this place off as a sans-hellfire town just yet, we’ve been here for five minutes.”

Sophia laughs and nods as they reach the front desk, greeting the nurse that’s sitting there.

“Hi, I’m here for John Stilinski,” Stiles says, smiling at her. She types something into the computer, nodding her head.

“May I see some I.D.?” she asks, looking at them expectantly. They nod and hand her their drivers licences (Stiles’ is a fake, but it’s a damn good one, so he’s not worried). She makes a copy of them and hands them back, along with some visitors badges.

“Visiting hours end at 9, but it’s 24 hours for family,” she says, looking from Stiles to Sophia.

Stiles instinctively grabs her hand and smiles at the nurse. “We’re both family,” Stiles says, looking at Sophia, who smiles at him and then at the nurse.

“He’s in room 112. It’s down the hall and to the right,” she says, looking at Stiles and Sophia again. They nod and thank her, jogging down the hall to Dad’s room.

The door is closed, and Stiles freezes, struck with fear all of a sudden. What if Dad doesn’t want to see him?

“Stiles, you have to go in,” Sophia says quietly, touching his side gently and pushing him towards the door. He nods numbly and reaches for the handle, turning it quietly.

His dad hasn’t changed much. He looks a little older, but he’s so familiar that Stiles breaks into full blown tears when he sees him. Dad’s asleep, and Stiles turns to push himself into Sophia’s arms, shaking.

“Stiles, shh. Shh, it’s okay. I know, I know it’s a lot to handle, but you’ve missed him so much. He’s missed you too, and you know that he wants to see you. I can promise you on my life that you are the person he wants to see the most right now,” Sophia says, rubbing his back comfortingly. Stiles sniffles and nods, hugging her. She’s honestly the best friend he’s ever had, as he thinks briefly about his friendship with Scott. It was one-sided and hollow at the end, and he’s glad that he’s been able to meet Sophia and become this close with her.

He turns and walks to Dad’s bed, sitting down in the chair nearby. Stiles doesn’t want to wake his dad, not when he’s sleeping so peacefully, and has a huge cast around his right leg.

“Soph, pull up a chair,” Stiles says to her quietly. She smiles and nods, lifting the chair in the corner of the room. She lays her head on the corner of the bed and closes her eyes, obviously intent on taking a nap.

Stiles debates on following her lead for ten minutes, alternating between playing games on his phone and staring at his hands, when he hears Dad stir.

“Dad?” Stiles says quietly, scooting to the edge of his chair to get closer. Dad scrunches his face up and blinks rapidly, like he can’t focus his vision.

“Stiles?” Dad mumbles, lifting a hand to rub at his eyes. Stiles huffs a laugh and nods, waiting for Dad to catch up. He’s got to be on a ton of pain medication, and Stiles doesn’t want to confused him or freak him out.

“Yeah, Dad. It’s me,” Stiles says quietly, through a watery smile.

Dad stares for almost a solid minute in silence, before he slowly sits up and leans closer to Stiles.

“I’m not dreaming, am I?” Dad asks skeptically, and Stiles laughs, shaking his head.

“No, Dad. No dreaming, I promise I’m really here.”

Dad almost launches at Stiles then, latching onto him with the tightest hug Stiles has ever been on the receiving end of. Stiles hugs back just as greedily, but is careful to keep his grip loose enough to keep from hurting his dad.

“What are you doing here?” Dad asks, sniffling as he pulls back.

“Oh you know, I was in the neighborhood, thought I’d drop by,” Stiles says, dryly, gesturing to Dad’s leg.

“You know what I mean. I thought you were in Italy,” he says, confused.

“I was, but now I’m here,” Stiles says, shrugging. Dad gives him the happiest smile, and Stiles is both heartbroken that he stayed away from his dad for so long, and so overjoyed that he gets to see Dad smile.

“You didn’t have to stop your trip to come back here for me,” Dad says, but it’s half hearted at best and neither of them care.

“I wasn’t on any agenda, I can go wherever I want, and I want to be here to make sure that you’re okay,” Stiles says.

Dad smiles and runs a hand through Stiles’ hair. It’s definitely everywhere, Stiles hasn’t showered in who knows how long, and he’s sure he looks more than a little homeless.

“I barely recognize you. Look at all this hair, that _facial hair_ ,” Dad says, poking at the stubble Stiles hasn’t touched since he was in Italy. “I haven’t seen your hair this long in almost a decade,” Dad says, smiling fondly. Stiles laughs and nods.

“I finally hit that growth spurt you always insisted would happen, too.”

Dad laughs. “That you did. I can’t believe you’re 21. You can legally drink, oh god,” Dad says, rubbing a hand over his face.

Stiles laughs. “I hate to break this to you, but I’ve been legally drinking in other countries for a year and a half.”

“Please don’t remind me of that.”

“I feel obligated to,” Stiles says, laughing. Dad rolls his eyes and smiles.

“Is that Sophia?” Dad asks suddenly, looking at Sophia’s sleeping form on the end of his bed.

“That is Sophia. We got on the first plane to Los Angeles and came here straight from the airport. You scared the crap out of both of us,” Stiles says.

“I’m sorry they made such a big fuss about it. It’s really not that bad, Derek made them keep me for observation,” Dad says, rolling his eyes like this is a long-suffering dilemma. Stiles feels himself rear his head back in confusion. He’s going to have to get used to a non-aggressive Derek, apparently.

“Well,” Stiles says, “I’m going to be here with Sophia to help you until you’re back on your feet. We both want you to be able to heal up quickly. We might have a few tricks up our sleeves to help with the pain and swelling, also,” Stiles says, making a creepy smile to get a chuckle out of his dad.

“Oh, lord. I’m going to have my hands full with you two, aren’t I?” He asks, smiling.

Stiles nods. “You’re going to love it.”

“I know I will. Listen, since you’re here, why don’t you sleep in the house tonight? You’ve been traveling for almost a full day, and I don’t want you guys to get too much of a jetlag,” Dad says, gesturing at the table next to his bed with his wallet, phone, and keys on it.

“Dad, I want to be here with you,” Stiles says, frowning.

“I know, son, but I don’t want you feeling like a zombie tomorrow because you tried to sleep in a hospital chair after traveling for more than 24 hours straight. Please?” Dad asks, and Stiles feels himself cave like a house of cards.

“Fine, but we’re going to be back here tomorrow morning to help you get signed out. And I’m going to make sure you find a physical therapist,” Stiles says, pointing at him fiercely as he stands up. Dad sighs and nods, and Stiles feels better knowing he gets to come back first thing in the morning.

He shakes Sophia’s shoulder gently, and she snaps up, blinking rapidly.

“Soph, we’re going to go crash at my dad’s,” Stiles says.

She looks at his dad and smiles at him, and he just watches Dad fall in love with Sophia’s smile, just like Stiles did when he first met her.

“Hi Mr. Stilinski, it’s so great to meet you, we were both really worried about you,” Sophia says, sitting up and giving him a hug. Stiles smiles at Dad’s surprised face, but he hugs her back just as enthusiastically after a second.

“You can call me John,” Dad says, and Sophia gives him a blinding grin, nodding her head.

“Okay. Do you need us to bring you anything tomorrow?” Sophia asks as Stiles grabs their bags.

“Some clothes would be great,” Dad says. Stiles nods and steps forward.

“Will do. Get some rest, okay? We’ll be back first thing in the morning. I love you,” Stiles says, hugging his dad again. Dad hugs him back fiercely and kissing the side of his forehead.

“I love you too. See you both tomorrow,” Dad says, leaning back on the bed as his eyes start to droop.

Leaving the hospital is hard, but Sophia drags him along gently, and the promise of a full night’s sleep soon becomes too alluring to pass up.

-

The house looks exactly the same from the outside. Dad kept everything pretty much the same. It’s so comforting to be back home, he hadn’t realized how much he missed the place until they pulled up in the driveway. Stiles shows Sophia where the bathroom is upstairs and leaves her to take her shower.

His room is exactly the same as the way he left it, except that the sheets have been changed on his bed. Stiles feels guilt wash over him at that, like Dad wanted his room to be ready whenever he came home. There’s a layer of dust on all of his stuff, but he can’t even think about cleaning at the moment.

Heading downstairs, he gets a glass of water from the kitchen and gulps it down, leaving the glass in the sink. He makes his way around the house and makes sure all the doors are locked. He casts a quick protection spell over the house, pleased when he feels the magic of his runes that he sent his dad already working to protect the house. There’s almost a sour taste in his mouth when he’s done casting the spell though, and Stiles wonders why that’s happening, He shrugs it off, but feels sort of odd as he walks down the hall.

The only room that’s really different is Dad’s study. The maps Stiles sent him are all tacked up on the wall, every place he’s been marked on the maps. There’s a box on the desk that’s just labeled ‘Stiles’, and when he opens it he sees all the letters that he’s written, organized by the date that he sent them. He frowns and feels even more guilt hit him. Stiles should have come to see his dad sooner.

He decides to leave it all alone for now, and heads back upstairs. Sophia is already out of the shower and passed out on his bed. He snorts in amusement when he sees she’s found his clothes from high school and decided to wear them to sleep. He lays down next to her, and almost immediately falls asleep, shoes and all still on.

-

Stiles goes to hospital with Sophia early the next morning, after he has a scalding hot shower and they scarf down some bagels they found in Dad’s pantry. Stiles digs through the kitchen before they leave, throwing away the package of bacon and the frozen bag of french fries he finds.

It’s early, but Stiles and Sophia haven’t had a solid night’s sleep in more than two days, and they’re both finally rested. Sophia is in a slightly sour mood, as the hot water wouldn’t turn on for her shower. Stiles got hot water in his, but the pipes made odd, concerning clanking noises the entire time he was in there. He makes a mental note to call a plumber later while on the drive to the hospital.

They stroll through the hospital doors, showing the nurse at the front desk their visitors passes from yesterday. Stiles quickly fills out his dad’s discharge papers and shows her his I.D. and his dad’s insurance card. She copies both and then hands them back to him. She’s a different nurse than the one they first met, and just nods and points them along once they’re done.

Stiles and Sophia head to Dad’s room, in a semi-heated argument over what to do on their first free day they have in Beacon Hills.

“The lake in Lossip County is calling to me! We can work on our water runes!”

“Hiking is better for us, and we can check out the territory,” Sophia reasons.

“See, that argument hasn’t been valid since we were in Japan. You can never again use a hike as bribery for me to physically exert myself in the name of curiosity,” Stiles argues back, taking a sip of his coffee as they head towards Dad’s room.

“Okay, you have dealt with much worse than running into a few kappas, I do not understand what you are bitching about.”

“I am bitching about being chased two miles by a three foot tall yellow lizard trying to drown us!” Stiles hisses at her as they reach Dad’s door.

“You laughed all night when we told Val about that, don’t act like you didn’t love it,” Sophia scoffs, barreling ahead of him and yanking the door open.

“Just because it was funny doesn’t mean I’d like to go out in the woods and provoke every fucking creature because you insisted on magically probing the forest!” Stiles good-naturedly snaps at her as he closes the door to his dad’s room behind him.

“Please, _god,_ never say the words ‘magically probing’ ever again,” Sophia says, rolling her eyes. Stiles laughs at her and the stops, realizing that Dad isn’t the only one in the room.

Dad is sitting on his bed, looking torn between putting his head and his hands and beaming at Stiles. He’s looking better than he did last night, and it’s relieving to see that a night’s sleep did him some good.

However.

Derek is standing at the foot of his bed, and fuuuuck.

It is _not fair_.

It is not fair that he looks so good in a uniform. He looks like he’s about to strip his uniform off and give someone a lap dance. It cannot be legal for Derek to be this attractive in literally everything. He’s got an actual beard now, trimmed and well groomed, and it makes Stiles self conscious about the stubble he hasn’t done jack shit about yet.

Derek is staring at Stiles like he’s seen a ghost, which is totally inaccurate. Stiles has seen ghosts, they are in a much worse mood and are usually telling you to fuck off.

“Um, we brought your clothes, John,” Sophia says, nudging Stiles out of the way and handing Dad the clothes they got for him this morning. Dad smiles at her and takes the clothes, putting them on the bed next to him. Derek stares at Stiles and Sophia like they’re aliens.

“Thanks, Sophia. You’re too good to be hanging out with Stiles,” Dad jokes, and Stiles scoffs in mock hurt, snapping out of his totally-not-staring-at-Derek trance.

“I’ve been saying that for years,” Sophia says, a broad grin on her face as her and Dad laugh.

“Okay, fine! Make your own guacamole then. And you can forget about the charms I made for your charm bracelet,” Stiles says, sarcastically waving a finger at her.

She drops her jaw. “You are bound by blood oath to make me guacamole until I die.”

“You can’t hold me against blood oaths I made while I was drunk!”

“Oh, _my god_ , do you really do that when you drink?” Dad asks, rubbing his temple.

Stiles and Sophia freeze and look at each other, both of their mouths pressed into a thin line as they stay silent.

“ _Stiles_. How are you still alive?” Dad says, exasperated. Stiles grins and shrugs.

“Hey, you can’t judge me for what I do on my birthday! Plus, I wanted to watch Doctor Who and try to fight Sophia blindfolded, but she drugged me,” Stiles says, pointing at Sophia.

Derek and Dad both look at her, shock on their faces. Sophia rolls her eyes, scoffing.

“Okay, I did _not_ drug you. Stop telling people that! It’s not my fault that you didn’t specify whether or not you wanted Gin in your iced tea,” Sophia says, crossing her arms over her chest in mock anger. Stiles drops his jaw.

“Um, I think you’re forgetting about the Tequila you put in, and the Triple sec, and the Rum, _and_ the vodka.”

“Okay, _fine_. It’s not my fault you’re such a lightweight, though,” She says, and she knows she’s got Stiles.

He laughs and rolls his eyes. “Fine, I’m not having this argument again.”

“I think we technically just had it,” Sophia says.

“I think you’re technically sleeping in the backyard tonight,” Stiles says, glaring at her, even though there’s no heat in the look. She laughs and shakes her head.

“Please, you’d miss me after twenty minutes.”

“That’s debatable.”

“ _If you’re done_ ,” Dad says, emphasizing himself to cut off their bickering. “I’m going to get changed. Please don’t... do anything. I mean it.”

His had hobbles on crutches to the bathroom, clothes tucked awkwardly under one of his crutches. He shuts the door with a half-hearted glare and leaves them all in silence.

They all stand there, Derek looking incredibly uncomfortable, and Sophia looking like she couldn’t care less about the awkwardness in the room. Stiles falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, and decides to play nice, just because it’s easier than being petty.

“So, how have you been, Derek?” Stiles asks, smiling politely at him. Derek startles, like he never expected Stiles to address him. It’s kind of funny.

“Oh, I’ve been good. Everything’s calmed down a lot,” Derek says, trying for a smile but failing. He ends up looking like he’s in pain, but Stiles gives him pity points for trying.

“That’s good, I’m glad things have settled. Um- this is Sophia. Sophia, this is Derek,” Stiles says, introducing them. Sophia smiles and waves at him, and Derek manages a head nod. It’s almost like a warm, cuddly hug for Derek, and Stiles is honestly surprised.

“Derek is the Alpha for the territory,” Stiles says, and Sophia nods. Derek’s head snaps up and his eyes widen, looking back and forth between Stiles and Sophia like he’s going to have to book it out of the hospital.

“ _Stiles,”_ Derek hisses, and it’s cute that he thinks he’s being discreet. Sophia must think the same thing, judging by her snort of laughter.

“Derek, you’re fine, stop freaking out,” Stiles says, smiling easily. Derek looks at him with a hard to define face, and Stiles stares back, unwilling to break eye-contact. It’s more out of habit than anything at this point, but Derek doesn’t look away either, so it becomes an Awkward Staring Thing until Sophia breaks the tender silence.

“ _Anyways_. I’d like you to know that aside from Stiles, I’m a mage also. I know that we should have formally introduced ourselves when we crossed into your territory, and we’re sorry we didn’t, but it was kind of an emergency,” Sophia says, putting on her professional voice, just like she does every time they’re in new territory.

Derek’s eyebrows shoot up, like he had no understanding that Stiles was a mage at all, which is understandable. He never talked about his spark much, and by the time he had started taking lessons with Deaton, the pack and Stiles had been drifting apart already.

“Oh,” Derek says, visibly composing himself from the information bomb Sophia just dropped on him. “Thank you for apologizing. I appreciate you introducing yourself.”

“Of course,” Sophia says, just as Dad comes out of the bathroom. Stiles grabbed him some basketball shorts, and he’s glad he did judging by his dad’s angry face. Trying to put jeans on over a leg cast might have actually killed him.

“I’m protesting broken bones,” Dad says, plopping down onto the bed, looking exhausted.

“I will help you make picket signs. When do you feel like going? I got all the discharge paperwork done, but don’t think I’m not hunting your doctor down before we leave,” Stiles says.

His dad rolls his eyes and sighs. “We can go whenever,” Dad says, lazily gesturing at the door, like he’s already given up on his freedom and happiness.

Stiles rolls his eyes and walks out of the room to find his dad’s doctor, and deliberately doesn’t think about leaving Sophia in the room alone with Derek and his dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm making a big drive tomorrow, so the next chapter may not be posted until late tomorrow night, but unless I have any delays the next chapter should still be out tomorrow :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay thank you to the wonderful and fabulous Haadya for being my cheerleader and beta! Sorry about not posting yesterday, I drove 11 hours and was a useless lump the rest of the day...

Driving Dad and Sophia home proves to be an interesting experience. They both outvote him and he ends up having to pull over at Bean Me, a local coffee shop to get them all drinks. Sophia comes in with him to help him carry things, and Stiles lets Dad play with the radio while they’re gone.

He orders Dad a decaf, because his dad needs to rest, and caffeine is the opposite of resting. Sophia orders hot tea and four muffins, all of which Stiles is sure are only for her. He ends up getting a latte with way too many shots of espresso. As they wait for their coffee, the door dings as another person walks in. Stiles doesn’t bother looking up, too busy checking his emails as Sophia angrily mutters at her phone about tetris.

“ _ Stiles?” _

Stiles head whips up, and he panics internally. Erica is standing there, holding onto a little boy and looking like she’s seen a ghost. This is a new flavor of awkward, that’s for sure.

“Hey, Erica.”

“Oh my god, what? What are you doing here?” Erica asks, lifting the little boy up to hold him as she walks closer.

“Um, getting coffee?” Stiles asks, raising an eyebrow. Is it really that big of a deal that he’s back in Beacon Hills?

“Shut up, you know what I mean. We all thought we’d never see you again!” Erica says, pulling him in for a one-armed hug. Stiles lifts both his eyebrows in shock as he looks at Sophia, but hugs Erica back anyways.

“Yeah, well. Dad got hurt, so Soph and I are helping him until he gets back to normal.”

Erica pulls back from him then and looks at Sophia.

“Hi, I’m Sophia. Nice to meet you,” Sophia says. Erica stares at her. It’s a very confused and mildly aggressive, guarded look. Sophia smiles at her, not backing down an inch.

“I’m Erica. This is Lucas,” Erica says, rubbing the little boy’s tummy. He’s probably 18 months, and he’s so obviously Boyd’s son. He’s stoically looking at all of them like he’d rather be anywhere else. Stiles loves him immediately, and thinks fondly of Ben, who has grown out of his silent phase and actually addresses people in full sentences now. Ben’s in high school now and in training with Val, and Stiles has promised to go back in six months to celebrate Ben’s first successful year of training.

“Of course you and Boyd would make the most beautiful baby in the entire world,” Stiles says, fondly. Erica drops any hostility to dimple and kiss Lucas’ cheek.

“He’s the most beautiful baby in the universe,” Erica coos, and Stiles and Sophia are both smiling at them.

Erica looks at him again, narrowing her eyebrows in contemplation.

“We should get dinner sometime. I honestly missed you, and I’d love to catch up. Just us, Isaac and Scott totally owe me a night of babysitting,” Erica says, putting a friendly hand on Stiles’ shoulder. 

Stiles thinks about it for a second. He’s not exactly aching to become friends with the people who ignored him all through his senior year, but at the same time he doesn’t want to let himself grow bitter over something like that. He’s seen enough terror and death to put things into a chilling perspective. He figures it can’t hurt, and he needs to move past high school already.

“Um, sure. We should get burgers! I haven’t had a burger in like six months,” Stiles says, throwing his head back in excitement.

“I don’t think you can count putting a charred piece of steak between two slices of bread as a burger, Stiles,” Sophia says, rolling her eyes. 

“Okay,  _ fine then _ . I haven’t had a burger since the last time we were in the states. Is that better?” Stiles asks, playfully glaring at her.

“I can rest easy with a clear timeline in place,” Sophia deadpans, taking her tea and muffins out to the car, leaving Stiles and Erica alone.

“I did not imagine you coming back with a girlfriend,” Erica says after a moment. 

Stiles stares at her for a second, before snorting and shaking his head. 

“Sophia isn’t my girlfriend. She’s my best friend,” Stiles explains, and Erica nods her head.

“Huh, well I have to admit it’s weird to hear you call someone besides Scott your best friend, but I guess things change,” Erica says, nodding more to herself than to Stiles. Stiles nods along, and says nothing. What is he supposed to say? She’s right, and Scott hasn’t been his best friend in a long time.

“We could grab something to eat tonight, if that works?” Stiles suggests, changing the subject. Erica nods and seems to shake herself out of whatever she was thinking about.

“Sure, I’ll call you,” Erica says.

“My number’s changed,” Stiles says, handing her his phone. She taps her on it for a minute, and then hands it back. 

“I sent myself a message so I have your number, too.” She hefts Lucas up again and smiles at him.

“Awesome. See you,” Stiles says, grabbing his and his dad’s drinks as he walks out the door. He knows Erica stares at him as he leaves, but he purposely looks away as he starts the jeep and pulls out of the parking lot.

-

Stiles and Sophia and lounged on the couch, talking quietly. Dad is snoring in his recliner, and neither of them want to be the one that wakes him.

They’re in the middle of a Doctor Who episode when the TV flickers and changes to HGTV. Sophia and Stiles look at eachother, and then at the remote on the table. The lights flicker repeatedly and there’s a sound of glass breaking in the kitchen.

Stiles and Sophia hurry into the kitchen and see that a lightbulb in the ceiling has burst.

They glance at each other, and then at the broken glass littering the floor.

“Well, looks like we’ll get to have some fun while we’re here,” Sophia mutters, turning around to head up the stairs. She’s undoubtedly going to get her notebook and start digging through it in hopes of answers. Stiles just cleans up the broken glass and prays to god that it’s not hobgoblins.

-

Erica texted him an hour before dinner to warn him, and he’s honestly pretty grateful.

**Just to give you a heads up, Scott and Isaac pawned babysitting duty off on Lydia and invited themselves along.**

Stiles rolls his eyes and sighs heavily. This is going to be an exhausting night.

**That’s fine. Is it cool if I bring Soph then?**

Erica send back an affirmative, and Sophia gives him a thumbs up when he tells her to put some real clothes on and get ready for dinner, and  _ no Sophia _ , shorts with Calvin fucking Hobbes on them do  _ not _ count as real clothes.

It’s nice to see some of the familiar sights in Beacon Hills, and he’s been feeling better than he thought he would about being back so far. He’s ready to move on and get closure on what happened back in high school, and he hopes the pack is ready for that, too.

Erica is already at a table when they get there, Isaac and Scott next to her. They’re all quietly talking, and it looks like Erica is verbally kicking both of their asses.

“Stiles!” Scott shouts, standing up so fast his chair falls over. Stiles gives a small wave as he and Sophia make their way to the table. Scott tackles Stiles in a hug, which he returns on a much less enthusiastic scale. It’s only a little awkward...for Stiles. Scott wouldn’t know awkward if he had it tattooed on the inside of his eyelids.

“Hey, guys,” Stiles says. “This is Sophia. Soph, this is Isaac and Scott.”

Sophia shakes both of their hands and smiles at them. Once again, effortlessly, her dimples win over everyone at the table. Scott dimples back, and this is just getting ridiculous. Isaac apparently thinks the same thing, judging from the way his head is whipping back and forth between them. 

If Stiles is being honest with himself, he missed this goofiness a little bit. But only a little.

It gets awkward after introductions, and Stiles looks at all of them, wondering whether or not to rip the bandaid off. He mentally does a coin toss that he loses because even his brain hates him, and decides to lay everything out on the table.

“So, this is fun. Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room,” Stiles says, cracking his knuckles as he settles in his chair. Sophia smirks in that way she does when she thinks something is funny but doesn’t want other people to know that she has feelings.

“We don’t have to,” Scott says, frowning. 

“We should though, otherwise this dinner is going to be uncomfortable for everyone.”

Everyone hesitates for a beat, and then nods. Okay, then.

“So, I ran away,” Stiles says, smiling widely in what he hopes comes off as sarcastic instead of douchebaggy. 

“Um,” Isaac says, looking back and forth between Scott and Stiles.

“Stiles, I’m so-” Scott starts, but Stiles raises a hand and cuts him off.

“Scott, I didn’t mean that we all had to apologize and cuddle. I’m not angry at you guys, it would be really fucking dumb if I was still holding a grudge for what happened when I was 17. I just mean that let’s not pretend that everything is all cheery and perfect.”

“Fucking thank you,” Sophia mutters, eyes never leaving the menu she’s staring at. Stiles snorts a laugh and elbows her, and all he gets is a cheeky smirk in return.

Scott looks slightly wounded, but Erica and Isaac both nod.

“That’s probably for the best,” Erica agrees, leaning back in her chair. Scott still looks wounded, but Isaac nudges him and raises his eyebrows. Scott stares at him for a second, before sighing and nodding. 

Huh.

“So, what have you guys been doing since I left?” Stiles asks.

“Well-” Erica starts, but is cut off by Isaac, who gives him the best run down Stiles has ever heard.

“Erica and Boyd got hitched and made a person. Jackson fucked off to god knows, and we’re all kind of glad he’s gone. Allison and her dad moved to Maine after graduation, and we haven’t really heard from her since. Scott and I have been dating for two years, and Lydia started a website to occupy all her spare time, since she finished CalTech early.”

Stiles blinks, trying to soak all of that in at once. Sophia looks like she couldn’t be bothered to even listen, and is signaling a waitress over.

They all have to stop talking to order, and it gives Stiles a second to process everything and get used to it.

“Wow. Well congratulations to you guys, that’s awesome.” Stiles says, smiling at Isaac and Scott. Isaac beams back at him then, and Scott continues to dimple in his innocent blissful world.

“They’re disgustingly cute, we all hate them.” Erica says, rolling her eyes. “What about you, Stiles? You look like a completely different person, now.”

Stiles takes a breath, wondering how to quickly summarize what he’s been doing. It’s almost a relief when Sophia beats him to the punch.

“Stiles met me in L. A. three weeks after he left, My aunt Val took him in and trained him to learn how to work with his magic, and then he fucked off and went all over the country, bunking with weird bikers and married vampires that lives in buttfuck, nowhere. We met back up again after Stiles and whatshisface in Texas broke up, and then we tramped around Europe and South America until John broke his leg.”

Everyone blinks. Even Stiles is reeling from the informational bomb she just let loose on the table.

“Wait, vampires?” Scott asks, perking up. Stiles laughs and nods.

“Yeah! Thomas and Cornelia. They’re awesome, they taught me how to hunt,” Stiles says.

“So... you eat people, now?” Isaac asks, hesitantly, like he’s debating whether or not to haul ass out of the restaurant. 

“No, vampires don’t actually drink human blood, and they don’t kill their prey,” Stiles explains, thinking about Thomas and Cornelia. He’s tempted to write to them, but he doesn’t exactly know their address. Actually, he’s pretty sure they don’t technically have one.

“That’s… actually really interesting,” Erica says, leaning in.

“Yeah, it’s been so amazing to travel, I’ve seen so much stuff. Last time I was in Georgia I fought off a troll, and there were some pixies around that time, too. Now that I think about it, we’ve seen some fucked up shit,” Stiles says, turning to Sophia. She snorts and rolls her eyes.

“I think we passed fucked-up-shit and went straight to literally-impossible-shit when we got to Europe.”

Stiles drops his shoulders with the mention of Europe, and does changed the subject before they’re forced to talk about what they saw in Europe.

“But anyways. We’ve been travelling together for more than a year at this point, and we’re even companions,” Stiles says, knowing that this will draw attention away from Europe.

“What does that mean?” Scott asks, his eyebrows pinching together. 

“It’s like…” Sophia begins, but has to pause to find the words. “Isaac, you’re a police officer. Do you have a partner?”

Isaac nods. “Derek and I are partners.” Of course they are. They’re all so closely knit Stiles would not be surprised if he missed an orgy while he was gone.

“It’s kind of like that, but deeper. Stiles is like my partner, but with magic. My magic and his are intertwined, and we can create more powerful runes and charms when we work together. It’s a bond that forges itself over time, and grows stronger the more you nurture it. We can sense when the other is in danger or distressed, and in turn can provide comfort on a level that almost no one else can. We’re like each other’s yin and yang.”

Isaac and Erica nod in understanding, but Scott, sweet Scott, is still confused.

“So wait, I thought you guys were like, married. Are you not?”

Sophia honestly cringes, and wow what a boost to Stiles’ ego.

“Uh, no. That would be very awkward considering how gay we both are.” Stiles says, laughing slightly. 

“Wait, you’re- that’s- um… I mean did you know when-” Scott starts, but Stiles cuts him off when he looks like he might pass out trying to find the right words.

“I didn’t know I liked guys when I lived here. It was all very illuminating when a guy in Texas stuck his tongue in my mouth and grabbed my ass.”

Erica snorts and Isaac smirks. Scott looks like he understands exactly what Stiles has said, and Stiles realizes that Scott has had a sexual revelation of his own.

“So Stiles,” Erica says, making direct eye contact with him. “I think I speak for everyone when I say, will you guys show us your magic?”

Stiles and Sophia glance at each other. They get asked this a lot, and it’s always awkward when they have to say no.

“Um, no. But not because we don’t want to,” Stiles says, holding up his hands in defense. “Magic doesn’t really work like that. It’s communication with Mother Nature and yourself and your companion. Doing magic in the name of appearance doesn’t usually go over well.”

They all look lost and confused, so Stiles settles for a compromise. 

“How about this, in a few days Sophia and I are going to put up new protective charms around my dad’s house. You can watch, if you want,” Stiles says. 

They perk up and nod, and honestly, it’s like dealing with actual puppies. 

“We’d like that,” Erica says, grinning.

The waitress sets their food down, and they all dig in, serious conversation forgotten.


	7. Chapter 7

The purification ritual is a lot simpler than it sounds. It’s mostly carving runes into the dirt and burying burned sage leaves by the windows. Scott and Isaac appropriately ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ when Stiles and Sophia burn the runes and they glow white, while Erica stays resolutely quiet. Her eyebrows raised in confusion.

Stiles and Sophia spend a moment meditating, when Stiles gets that sour taste in the back of his throat again. Stiles recognizes it this time though, it’s more powerful with Sophia finishing the spell with him. It feels like someone has been messing with his runes, and he can tell it’s been recent.

Stiles coughs and breaks the trance they’re in, stepping back like that will clear his head. Sophia is making a face like she tastes the same thing, and they look at each other in resignation.

“Did you feel that?” Sophia asks, looking around the in suspicion.

“Yeah,” Stiles says, rubbing the tension out of his neck. “I think that there’s more going on here than some bad luck.”

“What do you mean?” Erica asks. She looks interested, while Scott and Isaac both look more confused than anything.

“We could feel someone has been messing with my protection charms, and some odd things have been happening recently. It’s definitely not a coincidence.” Stiles sighs and cracks his neck. It’s going to be a long night of digging through their notebooks. They don’t have enough to really pinpoint anything, but reviewing what they already know will be better than doing nothing.

“You should call Lydia,” Isaac says, stepping forward.

“Lydia?” Sophia asks, looking at him apprehensively.

“Hey, she might not be on your level, but she’s been really helpful with all this stuff the last few years. Her website deals with this stuff. She might be able to help you guys.”

Stiles nods, and Isaac is already pulling his phone out. Sophia’s hand latches onto Isaac’s arm, stopping him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Sophia asks, her eyes narrowed.

“I’m going to call Lydia, and once you meet her you’ll thank me.” Isaac rolls his eyes and dials. Scott is standing in the background, eyes alarmingly wide as he takes in what’s happening. Stiles feels the same sense of foreboding unease, and he decides to just let whatever is about to happen just play out on it’s own.

-

Lydia looks as beautiful as ever, now sporting shoulder length hair and a surprisingly minimal amount of makeup. Stiles thinks that she looks like she’s finally grown into herself, and he’s happy to see that. She opens the door to her car and strolls out, a bag thrown over her shoulder that looks stuffed with books.

Stiles gestures for her to walk in, but she grabs his upper arm and turns him to face her.

“Not so fast, Stilinski.” Lydia adjusts the bag on her shoulder and looks at him, a sharp glare on her face. “I’d appreciate a hello and a hug, thank you.” She stand there, primly waiting for him to do as she asks. 

Stiles rolls his eyes and smiles. “I missed you too, Lyds.”

That seems to be all she needed, because her cold facade drops and gives him the brightest smile. He pulls her into a hug, and she hugs him back harder than he honestly thought she ever would. He pulls away and pats her on the shoulder, which causes her to scoff and brush his hand off.

Some things will never change. 

She strides past him and into the living room, where Erica and Sophia are chatting on the couch. Isaac and Scott are in the kitchen, having offered to make some coffee for everyone.

Stiles sits down next to Sophia, leaving his dad’s recliner open for Lydia. She pushes the coffee table closer to the chair with her foot, and then plops her bag down onto it, startling Erica and Sophia into silence. 

Lydia sits in the recliner and pulls out a laptop, opening it and setting it on the table. She opens several books that are definitely not in English, and Stiles remembers why he liked Lydia so much in high school. 

Sophia stares at Lydia like she’s not human, and when Lydia notices, she levels a scathingly searching look back at Sophia, who then rebuttals with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Lydia breaks out into what Stiles can only describe as a cheshire smile.

Oh. My. God.

“Um,” Stiles says, breaking the odd sexual tension that is definitely filling the room. Erica coughs and stands, retreating into the kitchen like the deserting asshole she is.

“Sophia, this is Lydia. Lydia, Sophia.” Stiles gestures between the two of them, hoping that introductions will ease the tension.

Of course, he can’t have nice things, so it doesn’t really make anything better.

“Hello,” Lydia says, her voice somewhere between alluring and cold as ice.

“Hi,” Sophia says, sarcasm dripping from her tongue.

“Okay then! Lydia, what did you bring?” Stiles interrupts, leaning forward to break the intense eye contact going on between them.

“I brought my laptop, and three different books on corrupted magic.”

“Why a laptop? Last time I checked, googling “sour magic” just brought up weird supernatural novels and stupid halloween recipes.”

Lydia has the grace to avoid sneering at Sophia, but it’s a near thing.

“That comment was more unnecessary than snake mittens,” Lydia says, turning the laptop towards them. Stiles snorts a laugh at Lydia’s ridiculously clever-yet-stupid insult, and even Sophia cracks a smile.

“This is the website I’ve been working on for the last few years. It’s an index of reliably verified websites, online supernatural library, and a type of messaging system.”

Sophia is silent, but Stiles leans forward.

“Lydia, that is amazing. I have literally so many questions,” Stiles says, leaning forward to browse through the website. It’s cleverly constructed. It has a basic, almost juvenile type of formatting, which would drive off people who accidentally stumble across the website. There’s a toolbar on top that has the labels ‘search’, ‘browse’, ‘shop’, ‘and ‘report a problem’.

“Ask away,” Lydia says, leaning back in the recliner. Stiles opens his mouth, but Sophia beats him to the punch.

“This ‘report a problem’ tab, is it an actual way to report supernatural issues?”

“Sure is. I made it looks like a way to report website issues, but all the messages go to a secure email account. I’ve been having a lot of trouble answering them all, but for the most part I’m able to help.” Lydia preens under the attention, and of course she does, it’s a brilliant idea.

“Have you actually verified every link on this website?” Stiles asks.

“Yeah. It took me about a year to get the collection to where it is. I have a huge backlog of stuff to go through, but Derek is usually the one who helps with that and he gets pretty busy with work and the pack, so it can be a slow process. Sometimes Deaton helps out, but he’s sort of available when he wants to be.”

Stiles nods his head, and glances at Sophia. They make eye contact and she nods after a second. Stiles smiles at her and ruffles her hair, which makes her elbow him in the side. 

“Lyds, if you need help with that stuff, we can help. We’ve spent the last four years doing nothing but making connections. Sophia was raised around this stuff, her entire family are experts.”

Lydia levels a searching look at Sophia, who nods back seriously and for once doesn’t look like she’s trying to goad Lydia into a fight.

Lydia nods her head after a second. “Okay, if you’re serious, I could use the help. I’m trying to get the messaging system to a point of where I can match up a problem someone has with a response team in their area. I know a few people in the state that are willing to help, but I get a lot of reports from people across the country and I can’t offer them anything but advice. I want to give people a way to connect if they need help.”

“If connections are what you need then you’re in the right hands,” Sophia says, giving Lydia that dimpled smile of hers. Lydia beams right back, and oh my god Stiles needs to get out of here right now.

“How about I get everyone some water? Okay great I’ll be right back,” Stiles shouts, standing up and retreating to the kitchen.

Of course, Erica, Isaac and Scott were clever enough to escape out the back door while they had a chance.

Assholes.

-

Sophia went to Lydia’s last night to  _ help her get her information sorted, Stiles. Stop looking at me like that I am 23 and I am free to make my own decisions _ . Stiles had waved her off with a roll of his eyes and gone upstairs, tired of watching their odd form of verbal foreplay unfold in his living room.

When Stiles gets up the next morning and realizes all of his left shoes are missing. He sighs, and steals a pair of his dad’s, stalking downstairs to make himself a cup of coffee. 

Why is this his life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey we're at the halfway point :)


	8. Chapter 8

It’s so subtle at first that Stiles almost doesn’t notice it. He didn’t, for the first two or three days, but he’s not stupid. It’s honestly a little insulting at this point.

It started off with Stiles thinking they were just coincidences. Beacon Hills is a smaller town, he’s going to end up seeing people often, just based on simple math and how often he’s running errands for his dad.

It was just the squad car, at first. Parked in the grocery store parking lot, driving three cars behind him when he heads into town, parked down the street from Bean Me when Stiles goes to get coffee.

It could totally be a coincidence. There are 13 police officers in Beacon Hills currently (Dad bitched for 20 minutes about how Jerry and Carroll had to retire and fuck their numbers up at dinner yesterday), and they spend a lot of time patrolling. But still, it’s the same license plate. Stiles checked the first time he saw the car twice in one day.

It isn’t until a week after that though, when Stiles finally realizes it’s Derek’s squad car.

The problem with Derek is that he has this super-hearing super-speed bullshit working for him, and he’s really good at running away before Stiles can catch/confront him. He sees Derek across the mall, pretending to read a magazine and doing a horrible job of it. He sees Derek pretending to browse baby ointment in Walgreens when he’s picking up his dad’s medicine, and  _ come on Derek _ , at least try  _ a little bit _ . He sees Derek in the line at the drive thru. Across the theater at the movies. Casually staring out the window of the convenience store Stiles is getting gas at.

It’s getting ridiculous. 

At first, it was kind of funny. Derek doesn’t have a stealthy bone in his entire body, and his attempts at being sneaky were pretty great, but it’s slowly slipped into the very clear Not Funny territory. Stiles decides to just rip the proverbial band-aid off. 

“Okay, this is getting ridiculous.”

Stiles charges towards Derek, magically holding Derek’s feet in their spot when he sees Derek twitch, about to bolt for the exit. Derek does an embarrassing job of pretending to be surprised in Target, where he’s standing at the end of the tampon aisle, ‘casually’ checking his phone.

“Hi Stiles, it’s nice to see you,” Derek says, smiling.

“Fuck you, don’t act clueless,” Stiles hisses, pushing him into the aisle behind the pharmacy where they sell all the kleenex, glaring at him the whole time.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Derek says, eyes wide in fake innocence.

“Really? You have no idea why you’ve been stalking me?” 

“Why on earth would I be stalking you?” Derek asks. He keeps his face blank, but thankfully drops the insulting act as innocent confusion.

“I honestly have no fucking clue, but I’m going to need you to knock it off. I don’t give a fuck whether or not you’re this big, bad Alpha. I can and will kick your ass if you don’t learn how to respect my personal boundaries,” Stiles hisses, pushing him with more force than strictly necessary. Derek clearly thinks Stiles is still a beanpole, because he stumbles back and hits the shelves, knocking over a bunch of kleenex boxes.

“Stiles,” Derek starts, but Stiles cuts him off.

“No, please don’t say anything. I don’t want to fight or say things I don’t mean, so I’m going to leave. I mean it though, Derek, you’re going to have to stop doing this. It’s not okay.”

Stiles slams down the bottle of wine and box of animal crackers he had been carrying onto a nearby shelf and walks out, leaving Derek standing there.

-

Thankfully, Derek does stop following Stiles. He sees Derek once when he stops by the station on an errand for his dad, and once when Isaac and Stiles run into each other picking up pizzas and Derek is with Isaac. Sophia and Lydia have a lot of theories about this, and Stiles emphatically Does Not Want to know any of them.

He’s on his way home from the station after having dropped Sophia off at Lydia’s, a box full of paperwork for his dad to occupy his next week with in the passenger seat. Stiles is just off of main street when the Jeep makes an alarming grinding noise, and his steering wheel locks up. 

“Fuck,” Stiles hisses, tapping his brakes until he’s slowed down enough to change gears and pull over on the side of the road. Cars whip by him, and Stiles groans, putting his head on the steering wheel.

The Jeep doesn’t have a park option, so once he’s stopped on the shoulder he just turns it off, deciding it’s better to save gas than sit there and have to keep his foot on the brake until someone comes to tow him.

Pulling out his phone, he calls Dad.

_ “Stiles, I thought you were supposed to be bringing me my paperwork.” _

“Yeah, about that…”

_ “Oh, god. What did you do? I am not bailing you out of jail.” _

“What? Dad, no! The Jeep broke down. I’m stuck on main street by the dry cleaners.”

_ “Aw, hell. I’ll send Derek to come get you.” _

Wait, what? No. No no.

“Dad, that’s okay. I’ll just ride to the shop in the tow truck or something, don’t bother Derek.”

_ “How are you supposed to get home from the shop, then?” _

Stiles is silent while he tries to come up with some other way that doesn’t involve walking six miles back to Dad’s house.

_ “That’s what I thought. Derek says he’ll be there in five minutes. Don’t call the tow truck until he gets there. Try not to cause any trouble between now and then, okay?” _

Stiles sighs. “Yeah, okay.”

He debates the merits of trying to outrun a werewolf until Derek’s cruiser pulls up. Stiles sighs and gets out, leaning against the Jeep.

“What happened?” Derek asks. He’s not in his uniform, but instead wearing a soft looking moss green sweater ( _ a sweater _ ) and jeans. Stiles tried valiantly to keep his heartbeat in check, but he’s pretty sure he doesn’t do that great of a job.

“Well, the Jeep was working, and now she’s not.”

Derek looks at Stiles like he’s the biggest idiot, and Stiles sarcastically smiles at him.

“I’ll take a look.” Derek says. He leans in and his the switch on the driver’s side of the jeep to pop the hood, his bicep brushing against Stiles’ shoulder, and Stiles has to force his mind blank in order to avoid the awful voice in his head that is salivating over Derek’s arms.

Derek walks around to the front of the truck and opens the hood, staring at it for several minutes. He fiddles around, checking Stiles’ oil and whatnot, and then looks suspiciously at Stiles.

“Try to turn it on,” He says, glaring at the Jeep’s engine. Stiles leans into his Jeep and turns the key, jaw dropping when it purrs to life like it’s never had a problem before.

“What?!” Stiles shouts, honest to fuck so shocked he feels a little light headed. Derek closes the hood and comes to stand next to Stiles, looking suspiciously at the Jeep.

“I swear that she broke down ten minutes ago.”

“I believe you. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I keep having weirdly bad luck,” Derek says.

Stiles’ eyebrows furrow. “You know, I have too. Pipes not working right, all my left shoes are missing, shit like that. Nothing super bad but a lot of inconveniences.”

Derek hums, then looks at Stiles. “It’s definitely not a coincidence, then. Keep your eyes out for anything else.” 

Derek leaves Stiles standing there gaping partly at his jeep and partly at Derek, honestly unsure which one he’s baffled more by.


	9. Chapter 9

Before Stiles really knows it, he’s been in Beacon Hills for a month, and he hasn’t even hated it. Honestly, Sophia and him have been having a pretty good time. They go swimming in lakes and go running and hiking, they take his dad to his physical therapy appointments and manage to somehow never find themselves incredibly bored.

Stiles is back at the pharmacy, picking up a new, less concentrated dose of his dad’s pain medicine, when once again…

“ _ Stiles?” _

Stiles sighs, turning around. He’s ready for whoever is shocked to see that he’s still alive. 

Except he’s really not expecting to see that Danny Mahealani is shocked to see him.

“Danny, hey!” Stiles says, smiling as he steps out of line. An elderly lady glares at him as she takes his place in line.

“Oh my god, I did not expect to see you here. How have you been?” Danny says, eyes wide and a genuine, 100% Danny smile on his face.

“I’ve been pretty great, how about you? I thought you’d be kicking it in New York while you technologically Christian Gray the planet.”

“It’s actually Seattle, thank you very much,” Danny says, a sarcastic smirk on his face. He’s still handsome like he was in high school, and of course Danny is still a heartbreaker.

“Ah, my mistake,” Stiles says sarcastically.

“I guess the only way I’ll be able to forgive you is if you buy me a cup of coffee,” Danny says, smiling. Stiles raises his eyebrows, because what? Is Danny hitting on him?

Who is Stiles to turn that down?

“Sure, you cool walking? Bean Me is just down the street.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Danny says, nodding. Stiles figures he can pick his dad’s medicine up on the way back. They head out, walking slowly and enjoying the day.

“What have you been doing since you left?” Danny asks a minute later, hands in his pockets.

“Oh, travelling, mostly. I was in Italy when my Dad got hurt, and now here I am,” Stiles says. How is he going to explain what he’s been doing without explaining that he just goes around hanging out with creatures that most people think are mythical?

“That’s cool, I’ve never been to Italy,” Danny says, smiling.

“If you ever decide to go, just let me know, I can totally get you a free place to stay, if you’re one of those people that likes staying at bed and breakfast type places,” Stiles offers. There’s a fae that runs one and owes him a favor. He’s not really planning to go back and he’s totally cool letting Danny use that favor up.

“That sounds pretty amazing, not going to lie.”

“Hey, I do aim to please,” Stiles says, shrugging. Danny laughs as they get to Bean Me. They get their coffee and grab a table outside.

“So, in the name of honesty,” Danny says, and Stiles freezes, confused. “I was mostly wondering if I could grill you about why you left. Was it the pack?”

Stiles chokes on his coffee.

“Th- the pack?” Stiles questions, wondering who the fuck told Danny or if he just figured it out on his own.

“Jackson and Lydia told me after graduation,” Danny explains, waving a hand. Stiles relaxes, feeling a lot better about that scenario as opposed to Danny figuring it out himself and never saying anything about it until now.

“Oh, okay. Um- I… I guess kind of, but it was honestly bigger than that. I was super depressed senior year. I needed to leave, and I’m glad I did. I don’t want to know what would have happened if I hadn’t left,” Stiles explains, hoping that makes sense.

“Did they do something?” Danny asks, his face the perfect example of concern.

“Not… not exactly. I felt cut off from everything. I was lying to my dad about all the shit happening at the time, Scott was obsessed with Allison then, everyone was so focused on themselves and I just couldn’t deal with it.”

“I totally understand that. High School was so unnecessarily brutal, if you’re this happy because you left then you probably did the right thing,” Danny says. Stiles wishes he felt something for Danny at that moment. He wants so dearly to have his heart jump up when he hears that, but he just feels the warm glow of seeing an old friend.

Stiles smiles at him. “Thanks, that’s a nice perspective to have, honestly.”

“Glad to help. If you’re looking for some more perspective, you honestly got pretty hot since you were last in town,” Danny says, and Stiles can’t help but rear back at the brash honesty.

He got pretty  _ what now _ ?

“I- what was that?” Stiles asks again, just because he’s probably having a stroke.

“You know what I said. I mean it, you really grew up,” Danny says, gesturing at Stiles face.

Stiles continues to stare at Danny like he’s speaking pig latin.

“Come on, Stiles. You’ve got muscles, and you grew your hair out, and you’re way taller. Don’t be bashful about it, it’s a good thing,” Danny says, calm and collected.

“Huh, well, thank you, I guess,” Stiles says, smiling. Danny laughs and nods.

“Anytime,” He says.

They part ways shortly after that, Danny leaving Stiles with his number. Stiles sits there for a second, processing what just happened. Did he just go on a coffee date with Danny Mahealani? He fucking did. 

What.

It takes him a few minutes to pull himself together and get home, stopping by the pharmacy  _ again _ to actually pick up Dad’s medicine this time. When he gets home, Sophia and Dad are sprawled out on the couch, yelling at the TV as an episode of Supernatural plays. Sophia has stolen his clothes again, and Stiles is just resigned to it at this point.

“Thanks for running by the pharmacy, Stiles. What took you so long?” Dad asks, barely glancing away from the TV.

“Oh, I ran into Danny and ended up going to get coffee with him,” Stiles says, shrugging off the black jacket he’s been wearing all day. Sophia’s head whips around, glaring at him.

“Did you go on a coffee date with someone?”

Stiles rolls his eyes. “Yes, have you gone deaf?”

“I have to approve anyone who wants to date you, most people aren’t good enough,” Sophia says, glaring at him again as she slowly turns back to the TV. Stiles sits there for a minute, confused, when Derek walks in from the backyard. Stiles literally jumps and puts a hand over his head, terrified.

“Oh,  _ my god _ , what is wrong with you? Do you often just walk into people’s homes unannounced?”

Derek stands there, unimpressed, when his dad finally turns around. 

“Oh, Stiles. I forgot to tell you. I invited Derek for dinner, and he offered to see what’s been going wrong with the sprinklers in the backyard while he was here,” Dad says, looking at Stiles for half a second before he looks back at the TV.

Stiles sighs in defeat. “Thank you for keeping me in the loop.”

His dad waves a hand in his vague direction, totally missing the sarcasm, and Stiles sighs, resigning himself to having to make dinner alone.

“Okay, you’re all getting salad for dinner,” Stiles decides, just because he’s spiteful and wants to be petty, just a little bit. Sophia and Dad groan, but Derek just nods his head.

“I’ll help you cook.”

What.

“Okay, sounds good,” Stiles says, skeptically. Derek heads into the kitchen, and Stiles follows after a second, bewildered.

“Um, can you wash the lettuce?” Stiles asks.

Derek is standing there, looking conflicted, and totally not even close to washing the lettuce.

“Derek?” Stiles asks, wondering if he’s witnessing the beginnings of a stroke.

“I’m sorry,” Derek says, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I shouldn’t have been looking out for you the way that I was earlier.”

“ _ Looking out for me _ ?” Stiles repeats, eyes wide. “Is that what you’re going to call it?”

“Yes, Stiles. I  _ was _ looking out for you.”

“Why would you do that? I can protect myself, Derek.”

“Well, I don’t know that, so excuse me for doing what I should have done before you left,” Derek snaps, and then closes his mouth abruptly. 

Stiles deflates like a popped balloon. Is that what this is?

“So, wait… you following me everywhere was your convoluted way of making up for not being there when I was in high school?” Stiles questions, wanting to understand as clearly as possible.

Derek says nothing, but nods his head bashfully.

Stiles sighs. Oh, boy.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and some part of me even appreciates it, I guess. But I don’t need you to protect me, I can take care of myself. I’m not helpless, Derek,” Stiles says, sitting down at the table, suddenly exhausted.

Derek stands there awkwardly and stares for a minute at the floor, before nodding. 

“I’m sorry,” Derek says.

Stiles nods. “Thank you, that’s all I needed to hear.”

Derek looks at him, like he’s expecting Stiles to demand more, or continue to be angry.

“That’s it? You’re fine, now?” Derek asks skeptically.

Stiles nods. “I mean, yeah. What good would it do me to keep being mad? You apologized and I accepted it your apology. Holding a grudge would just make things worse.”

“You’re a lot different,” Derek says, looking at Stiles with an odd sort of facial expression. He looks kind of hungry.

“Well, 4 years of travelling will do that to you,” Stiles quips.

“You should show me what you learned while you were gone,” Derek says. His voice rasps a little and Stiles would be lying if he said it didn’t affect him.

“Yeah,” Stiles says, confused of what’s happening. Is Derek trying to hit on him? 

“Yeah,” Derek says, voice taking an odd tone as he grabs the lettuce and starts washing it. Stiles takes a second to rake through all of what just happened. 

Stiles yelled at Derek. Derek apologized. Stiles accepted said apology. Derek confused about being forgiven. Stiles is wise as fuck. Derek turned on by said wisdom?

What.

They get through ten minutes of washing and chopping vegetables before Derek breaks the silence.

“So… did- did you and that guy have a good time?”

“Who, Danny?” Stiles asks. Derek is deliberately avoiding eye contact, intensely focused on chopping carrots.

“I mean, yeah. It was nice to catch up, we used to be on the Lacrosse team together before I left,” Stiles says. Derek is trying to nod casually and failing epically. 

What is even happening here? Is Derek… is Derek  _ into _ Stiles? 

“That’s, um, nice. Do you think you’re going to go out with him again?”

Oh, my god. 

Derek  _ is  _ into him. 

What.

“I- I don’t know. Danny’s a nice guy, but I’m not really interested in him the way he’s interested in me,” Stiles says. He stares at Derek, gauging his reaction.

Derek’s face gives off no change in expression, but his shoulders sag in relaxation, just a little bit. Stiles feels himself flush.

Derek is  _ so _ into him. 

Dear god, Stiles from 4 years ago would be having heart palpitations. 

Hell, Stiles right now is about to have heart palpitations. He hadn’t realized until years after he’d left that what he thought was fear-fueled dislike was more of fear-fueled I’m-really-into-the-silent-growly-type.

“Well, that’s- You shouldn’t be with people you’re not interested in,” Derek says. Stiles nods. 

He’s really not sure what to do with this information, so he decides to not do anything. There’s a maybe-not-so-small part of him that would love to be with Derek, but there’s a lot of him that isn’t sure where to place this new Derek, who isn’t angrily repressing his trauma and growling his feelings away anymore.

Plus, it doesn’t exactly help Stiles’ situation that Derek looks so fucking good. Even now, when he’s in jeans and a long sleeve shirt, he’s otherworldly. Stiles knows that there’s so much more to him that just being attractive, and that’s honestly what makes it harder to put his finger on where he stands with Derek right now.

Stiles puts the knife he was using down, stepping closer to Derek. 

Derek looks at him, and Stiles is just  _ gone _ . 

He puts his hand on Derek’s bicep, just resting there. He isn’t going to force himself on Derek, so he waits to see if Derek will make a move. 

Stiles doesn’t know why he’s surprised when Derek does, but he’s definitely surprised.

Derek leans down and brushes his lips against Stiles, gentle and soft. It’s so not what Stiles thought kissing Derek would be like. Stiles processes what is happening for half a second before moving.

He grabs Derek by the back of his neck and pulls him in, shocked when he realizes he’s taller than Derek now. Derek makes a soft sigh and kisses him again, harder this time. There’s more heat and intensity, and this,  _ this _ , is more like what Stiles thought kissing Derek would be like. Derek puts his hand on Stiles’ hip, burning hot and so amazing. Someone makes a quiet moan, and Stiles honestly can’t tell which one of them makes the noise. Derek sucks on Stiles’ lip and Stiles nips at his in response, and it’s like Stiles is in heaven.

Stiles feels as if he’s been hit by a truck when they pull apart. He needs to reorient himself, but he almost doesn’t want to. Stiles doesn’t more his hand, and Derek doesn’t take his hand off of Stiles’ hips.

“That-” Stiles starts, but there’s no end to his sentence.

“Yeah,” Derek agrees.

They stand there for a minute, in some sort of trance where all they’re doing is sort of staring at each other, and god.  _ God, _ does Stiles want to know what Derek Hale fucks like if that’s how he kisses. Derek must be thinking something along the same lines, because his hand twitches and moves towards the small of Stiles’ back.

“Stiles! What’s the ETA on dinner?” Dad’s voice come from the living room. 

Derek and Stiles jump apart like they’ve been burned, and don’t make eye contact as they move to opposite sides of the kitchen.

Great, now Stiles has  _ this _ to mull over.


	10. Chapter 10

Stiles doesn’t exactly get very long to mentally whine about his life, unfortunately. Or, maybe fortunately.

Derek’s asked Stiles and Sophia over for help. Apparently there’s an ‘intruder’ in the territory and they can’t identify it.

All that Stiles gets from the actual text he receives is:

_ There’s an intruder. Come help if you want. _

Which. That doesn’t really tell Stiles jack shit. Sophia just rolls her eyes when she sees the text and starts putting her boots on. Stiles figures he can fight whatever threat there is in jeans and an old baseball tee, and they set out.

It turns out, Derek could have offered way more information about the intruder, because the second Stiles and Sophia step out of the jeep, they know exactly what they’re dealing with.

It’s a troll.

Stiles feels more at home that he has in the last few days when he and Sophia recognize what that smell is. They both grin at each other, and head into the house. Stiles takes a second to be proud that Derek rebuilt the preserve and the Hale House.

Everyone is huddled in the living room, looking like they’ve slept in the forest for the last week.

Deaton is sitting at a table in the corner of the room, huddled over a book, ignoring everything.

Lydia is leaning up against the wall and texting, looking bored and uninterested in everything happening around her.

Erica and Boyd are on the couch, cuddled up and looking like they couldn’t give less of a shit if they tried. Stiles is slightly in awe of their ability to do that.

Scott, Isaac and Derek are all standing in a circle, fighting. Their bickering drowns out everything else in the room, so much so that no one even looks up when they walk in.

Sophia and Stiles glance at each other, shrugging. Sophia walks into the room and makes herself comfortable on the loveseat by the window, and Stiles moves to join her when Lydia grabs his arm.

“They’ve been at this for a good 20 minutes,” She hisses, sauntering off to curl up next to Sophia. Sophia grins and lays a kiss to Lydia’s cheek, before leaning down and licking her neck.

Stiles decides to stop things before they get a little too R rated.

“Okay!” Stiles stands up, clapping his hands together. Derek, Isaac and Scott jump apart, like they’ve just been caught stealing cookies before dinner. Erica snorts a laugh and Boyd remains stoic as ever.

“How long have you been here?” Isaac asks, scrunching his eyebrows.

“Hours,” Stiles deadpans. Derek and Scott both look ridiculously confused, like there’s no way they could have just not noticed two people walking into the house. Isaac just nods, because he’s a mature adult.

“If you’re done,” Sophia says, standing up. “We know what you’re dealing with.”

Derek turns to look at them, then. His face is one of guarded suspicion, and it’s echoed on Scott and Isaac’s faces. Everyone else remains unimpressed.

“How on earth could you possibly know already? We haven’t told you anything yet.”

“Um, because we have a sense of smell?” Stiles sarcastically says.

“And we’re also not idiots,” Sophia adds, sitting back down on the loveseat. 

“Okay, so what is it, then?” Erica asks, grinning, as if the entire situation is beyond hilarious to her.

“A troll.” Stiles watches as six people look at him in apprehension, while Deaton looks at him in that emotionless way he loves to do. He continues on, undeterred. “I had to deal with one in Georgia, and Soph and I saw more than enough in Europe.”

“Really, trolls?” Scott asks, apprehensively.

“Really, werewolves?” Stiles bounces back. Scott stands there for a second, clearly rebooting, before he nods his head in concession.

“Okay, so then what do we do?” Derek asks, turning to fully face Stiles.

“It’s simple. We scare it away.” 

No one seems to understand what Stiles is saying, but thankfully Deaton seems to understand what Stiles means, because he stands then, crossing the room to stand where Lydia was before she sat down.

“Stiles is right. Trolls are big creatures, but they’re easily confused, and they scare like a horse. Chances are that a troll got lost and wandered too far, into this territory. We just need to guide it out and we’ll be fine.”

“Why not kill it?” Derek asks. He doesn’t sound vengeful or angry, more like morbidly curious. It’s an important distinction, but Stiles is really glad that it’s there. Derek isn’t bloodthirsty, and seeing that makes Stiles feels things that he can’t deal with right now.

“The same reason you don’t stab a child for misbehaving,” Sophia deadpans. Lydia snorts and Stiles smiles. They’re getting along so well he’s actually terrified.

Derek looks at her like she’s just grown a second head, so Stiles translates.

“They’re not violent creatures. Attacking one when they did nothing to you would be ridiculously stupid. There’s no reason for us to hurt it, because it hasn’t hurt us.”

Derek nods, understanding. The rest of the betas all seems to be on the same page as their alpha, and Stiles is impressed. They’re not diving into anything headfirst, but they’re actually listening to other points of view before they decide anything.

“What do you need from us?” Derek asks, looking at Stiles.

“Mostly, we need you to look very scary and back up Sophia and I. Sometimes trolls swing their arms out, and getting smacked by one of those fuckers is painful. If the troll gets ahead of Sophia and I, we need you guys to make sure it doesn’t head into town.”

The betas are nodding, and Derek stand there, unmoving for a second. Then he turns, determination on his face. 

“Isaac, you, Erica and Scott are going to make sure the troll doesn’t head towards the town. Lydia, I need you and Deaton following us in a car. Track mine and Scott’s phones so you can see where we’re headed and you can guide us. Boyd and I are going to cover Stiles and Sophia. Is that good for everyone?” The pack seems to process what he’s said for a minute, and then nod. Stiles is honestly impressed, that’s a big change from the bark-and-obey he left four years ago.

“Okay, if all that’s settled, we head out in five.” The pack nods and splits, everyone going to take care of some last minute information.

He scampers across the room and decides to be nosy. He flicks through Deaton’s open book, nodding when he realizes it’s one that he’s read before. It’s mostly accurate, but not really helpful when it talks too vaguely about magical properties in nature.

He flicks through it until Derek calls them all outside, making sure everyone’s ready to go. 

Stiles and Sophia ride with Lydia and Deaton while the wolves run alongside them. Sophia has her head poking out of the sunroof, looking around as they drive through the preserve. It’s several minutes of driving before Sophia manages to find it. Trolls don’t run all that fast, which is great, because Stiles can actually keep up with it at a moderate pace.

“Hey! I see it!”

Lydia stops the car, and Stiles and Sophia huddle out, immediately taking off in the direction of the troll. Stiles knows that Derek and Boyd are hot on their heels, and it’s nice to have more backup than just Sophia for a change.

“Stiles, steer him left!” Derek shouts, and Stiles waves his hand in acknowledgement. Sophia and him meet eyes and sent a bolt of fire between the two of them. Stiles hands burn in the best way from the blast, and he can’t help the manic grin that spreads across his face as the feeling of magic spreads through his body. The troll cries out in shock and turns, heading left. Stiles and Sophia take off after it, creating a pyrotechnic show every time it drifts in the wrong direction. 

They run with it for a while, before the troll takes a hard left, heading away from where they need it to go. 

Stiles sends up a wall of fake fire. It’s an illusion charm, but it’s come in handy more times than he can count. Derek yells something at Stiles, probably a cry of outrage since it looks like Stiles and Sophia have just set the forest on fire, but stops dead when he sees the spell melt away after a few seconds, the forest completely untouched. Stiles feels himself come down from the spell, his hands and arms pulsing from the rush of the spell.

The troll turns right, and heads back in the direction that they need it to go. Derek catches back up to them, and Boyd is very open about laughing at him. It goes on like this for a while, Stiles and Sophia taking turns using small charms or large gusts of wind to guide the troll. Boyd even whips out an admittedly terrifying roar at one point.

They guide it about two miles past the edge of the territory, just to be sure, and then stop. The troll lopes on, unaware that everyone is no longer following it.

“Well,” Stiles pants, collapsing to the ground. “That went well.” Sophia laughs and then coughs, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

“Kind of boring,” Boyd says, looking in the direction the troll went. Isaac, Scott and Erica catch up to them, laughing as they stop. 

“That was fun!” Scott says, eyes lit up. Boyd rolls his eyes and strolls off in the direction they came. Erica follows him after a second, throwing a wave to everyone. 

“Isaac, you and Scott should go home and rest. We’ll meet in the morning and make sure the preserve is okay,” Derek says. Scott and Isaac nod, joining up and holding hands as they leisurely walk away. There’s a sight Stiles is going to have to adjust to. It’s nice to see Scott with someone that doesn’t warp his sense of reality, though. 

“Stiles, you and Sophia ride back with Lydia and Deaton,” Derek says, gesturing to the road. Lydia pulls up a few seconds later, smiling broadly as she rolls the window down. Sophia gives him a thumbs up and heads towards the car, but Stiles hangs back. 

“Derek,” Stiles starts, but isn’t sure how to continue. Derek looks at him, a silent question on his face. He’s so handsome, even after all the years Stiles has been gone. 

Stiles takes a deep breath, because he feels like he needs to tell Derek, just because he doesn’t know how often Derek hears it. 

“You’re doing a really good job of being their alpha.” Derek’s eyes whip to Stiles, and he looks like he’s at an honest to god loss for words. 

Stiles smiles and steps closer, putting his hand on Derek’s shoulder. “I felt like you should know. I don’t think you hear it very much.” Derek is still standing there, looking beautiful and confused, and Stiles wants, so bad. But he doesn’t kiss Derek, even though he’s dying to. He doesn’t want this moment to be cheapened by that, or to seem like he just said it to get Derek to kiss him. He needs Derek to know that he said it because it’s true.

Instead, he pats Derek’s shoulder and backs up, heading towards the car, leaving Derek to stand there. It’s dramatic and cheesy, but there’s nothing left to say, and stiles is dead tired.

-

They get back to the Hale house, and Stiles has to be shaken away by Sophia, who smiles at him as she helps him out of the car. Stiles noticed the horizontal off colored marks on the trees, and belatedly narrows down the list of what’s been fucking shit up, because those marks are super familiar and he can’t place why he recognizes them.

“Hey, are you good to drive?”

Stiles blinks at her. “I guess, why? Are you not?”

“I am, but I- uh… Lydia invited me over. I want you to honestly tell me if you can drive, though.” Sophia is dead serious, and he knows that if he told her he wasn’t good to drive, she would tell Lydia no and make sure they got home safely. Stiles doesn’t want to be a cockblock, though.

“I’ll be okay, Soph. Worst case is I crash here. Go have fun,” Stiles says, nudging her shoulder. She gives him a smile, and gets back into the car. Deaton is pulling out of the driveway in his toyota, giving zero fucks, and Stiles sighs as he watches Deaton leave. So much for trying to hitch a ride with him.

“I’ll drive you home,” Derek says, grabbing the keys out of Stiles hand before he even knows what’s going on.

Stiles stares at him for a second, confused as to what just happened, but then decides it’s probably for the best, and gets in the passenger seat.

Derek starts the jeep with ease and pulls out of the driveway. They’re both quiet for a while, before Derek breaks the easy silence.

“Did you mean what you said, back there?” His eyes don’t leave the road, but Stiles knows he’s more focused on his answer now than the empty street they’re on.

“Of course. I have no reason to lie to you. You know I didn’t lie to you.”

“I know that, but-”

“You mean because I left,” Stiles says, quietly. Realization hits him like a truck.

Derek says nothing, but his grip on the steering wheel tightens.

“Derek, did you shape up so much  _ because _ I left?” Stiles whispers.

Derek grips the steering wheel a little bit tighter, but still says nothing. Stiles adjusts with this information trying to figure out what to say to that. He’s not sorry he left, and he isn’t sorry that he’s the reason Derek changed, because it was change for the better.

“I didn’t know that it mattered to you that much,” Stiles says. Derek actually pulls over to glare at him, like he needed 100% of his energy to get the expression just right. Stiles is actually kind of impressed with Derek’s dedication to his bitch face.

“Stiles,” Derek starts, but then stops. He’s clearly thinking through what to say, and Stiles appreciates it. Derek is less prone to outbursts of anger now, and it’s nice.

“I should have noticed how you were feeling. I wasn’t being a good alpha, to anyone. It was my job to make sure everyone was okay, and I didn’t do that.”

Stiles stares, and then reaches over to lay a hand on Derek’s forearm.

“Hey, I meant what I said. All of that stuff happened a long time ago. It matters, but it also doesn’t. We can’t go back and re-do anything, so there’s no point in being melancholy over it. But you’re doing a good job. You listen to what others have to say and you don’t charge head first into things anymore and you ask for help when you need it. I’ve met a lot of alphas who don’t do things like that with their packs, and they suffer for it.”

“You’ve met other alphas?” Derek asks, looking at him, completely ignoring everything else Stiles said.

“Well, yeah. I mean I was moving around so much, of course I came across other packs,” Stiles says, shrugging. “I didn’t really care for most of the alphas, but it was interesting to see how different packs worked.”

Derek nods, and puts the car back in drive, pulling back onto the road. 

“Hey, I meant it. You’re a good alpha,” Stiles says again, because Derek seems like he still has his selective hearing.

Derek nods, shoulders loosening and he drives, and Stiles sits back, satisfied that he understands Stiles’ point.

-

When Sophia strolls into the house the next afternoon, She’s wearing clothes that don’t belong to her and owning the biggest smile he’s seen on her face in months. 

Stiles groans and puts his head in his hands. 

He’s going to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only about 3-4 chapters left :)


	11. Chapter 11

It’s in the middle of the day a week later when Stiles realizes it’s pixies.

In hindsight, it’s obvious, and Stiles is actually a little embarrassed that he didn’t realize it sooner. He texts Sophia to meet him at Derek’s, and texts Derek to let him know that he knows what’s been fucking their shit up, and heads out.

Ten minutes later, Sophia and Lydia are pulling up, and Derek is coming out of the house.

“So, what is it?” Derek asks, interested.

“Pixies.”

“Oh fuck me, again?” Sophia cries, falling back into the grass.

“Believe me, I wish it was literally anything else, too,” Stiles agrees, leaning down to pull her back up.

“So what do we need to do, then?” Derek asks.

“Well, we need to find their hiding place, and then you need to firmly but politely tell them that they aren’t welcome here, and they need to leave. They’ll respect the order, but only from the Alpha of the territory.”

Derek nods, and Stiles can’t help but grin at him.

“Okay, so how are we going to find them?” Lydia asks.

“Actually, the other day, when we came back from fighting the troll, I accidentally found it. There’s a tree on the edge of your driveway with pale, horizontal stripes. That’s where they’re all hiding.

“They’re all hiding in a tree?” Derek asks, skeptical.

“Pixies are masters of illusion and mischief, they’ve been right under our nose the entire time,” Sophia explains, rolling her shoulders back.

“What do I need to do?” Derek asks, looking at both of them.

“Knock on the tree, and wait. They might wait a while, just because they like to keep people waiting, but they’ll show. When they do, immediately tell them that they have overstayed their welcome, and they should move on. Anything else they say, ignore, but don’t leave until you see the marks on the tree disappear,” Stiles instructs.

Derek nods, and immediately walks down the driveway to the tree. It’s far off enough that Stiles has to magically reach to hear the exchange.

Derek knocks on the tree, and then steps back. Stiles was right, they leave Derek standing there for a solid minute before a small, childlike figure emerges from the tree, a mischievous smile on its face.

“Why he-” It starts.

“I am the alpha of this territory. You have overstayed your welcome here, and I think it is best you move on, now.”

Stiles is impressed, Derek leaves no room for question, and crosses his arms to glare at the pixie. It growls quietly and flicks its hand, causing flowers to spout from the toes of Derek’s shoes. Derek doesn’t even glance down, and stares at the pixie until it shrinks away, sinking back into the tree. 

Sure enough, Derek doesn’t leave until the marks fade from the tree, which doesn’t happen for another five minutes. Stiles can practically hear the bitching and moaning the pixies make as they’re forced to move on, and he barely suppresses a chuckle.

Derek walks about over then, glaring at his boots.

“Is there any way to make this stop?” He asks, pointing down. Sophia snorts in laughter, and shakes her head.

“I think it’s a safe bet to write those off as a lost cause,” Stiles says, and can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous pout Derek gives, his stomach doing flip-flops all the while.

-

“You want to what?”

“Stiles, I know damn well you heard me.” Dad is not enjoying Stiles at the moment, but it’s a more than fair question.

“Why on earth do you even want to go?” Stiles thumps back on the couch, going boneless. Dad sighs, and Stiles rolls his eyes.

“I want to go to the pack meeting tonight. I usually go, but I can’t drive myself around like this,” Dad says, gesturing at his right leg, which is elevated on the footstool. 

Stiles sighs, because he knows his dad is right. Stiles is basically here to help his dad get around town and make sure he doesn’t skimp on his physical therapy exercises, and not taking his dad where he wants to go would sort of negate his entire purpose for being home.

Stiles groans and throws his head back. His dad smiles that signature long-suffering smile of his and pats Stiles’ knee from across the couch.

And so, two hours later, Stiles and Sophia pull up to Derek’s, his dad in the backseat. Dad complained the entire time Stiles drove, because Stiles refused to play anything aside from 4 Non Blondes. 

His dad is out of the car and hauling ass on his crutches towards the house. He stops when he gets to the porch steps, and a second later Melissa is out the front door, helping him up the stairs and scolding him about correctly using the crutches. 

Sophia takes off a second later, clearly bolting to look for Lydia, and Stiles debates how mad his dad would be if he just stayed in the car. He wants to go in, but he also doesn’t. He doesn’t know where he stands with Derek, and he’s terrified that he’s not going to like the answer.

“Stiles!” Sophia barks from the doorway, and Stiles sighs, trudging towards the house.

-

All in all, Stiles is pretty surprised at how different pack meeting are now. They used to be Derek yelling at everyone in an abandoned train car, the faint smell of mold in the air. 

Now, though. Now Derek’s grilling for everyone in the backyard. Scott and Boyd are half-heartedly wrestling, while Erica and Isaac seem to be deeply interested in watching, if their smirks are anything to go by. Erica is cuddling a sleepy baby Lucas, who is still so fucking adorable it hurts. Dad and Melissa are at a picnic table, smiling and laughing. Sophia and Lydia are spread out on the grass, a safe distance from the wrestling, soaking up sun rays and ignoring everyone else.

Stiles wanders over to Derek, not wanting to bother anyone else. 

Derek actually gives him a smile as Stiles heads towards him, and Stiles feels his stomach jump a little. 

“Don’t worry, I’m making your dad a turkey burger,” is what Derek leads with when Stiles gets close enough. Stiles blinks in confusion, before smiling. 

“Thanks.” Stiles smiles at Derek, and gets a small smile back. 

Stiles sort of wanders away after that, unsure of what to say to Derek, and ends up standing near Erica and Isaac, who are booing Scott and Boyd as they slowly quit wrestling.

Scott uses his shirt to wipe off sweat from his face, and Stiles has to roll his eyes at the face Isaac makes when Scott does that. 

“Hey, Stiles. Can I talk to you?” Scott asks, suddenly. Stiles raises an eyebrow but nods. Stiles heads into the house, Scott following behind. They get to the kitchen and Stiles turns, waiting for Scott to start.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I know that you’re not mad, but I still need to tell you. I was a bad friend, and you deserved better.” Scott doesn’t look away or fidget, and Stiles is impressed. The years Stiles has been gone were good to Scott, and he seems like he’s not blinded by whatever has caught his attention anymore.

Stiles smiles. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”

Scott dimples, and Stiles feels like they can maybe work their way back to being friends again. “I missed my best friend,” Scott says.

“I missed you too. But I hope you know that Sophia is still my best friend, and I’m not going to replace her with you. I totally have room for two best friends, though.”

Scott nods, still dimpling. “I can totally deal with that.”

“Good,” Stiles says. They do an awkward bro hug, and head back outside. Stiles thinks for the first time in maybe forever that he might be okay with staying in Beacon Hills for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's one more chapter after this, and then a small epilogue. In a continuation to this I wrote a small companion piece from the pack's perspective that will be out soon, too. 
> 
> Sorry if this isn't the climactic wrap up you were looking for, but the whole "magical disturbance" thing wasn't ever intended to be the main focus of the plot, merely something to help keep the story moving.


	12. Chapter 12

“Daaa-aaad.”

“Stiles, shut up.”

“But-”

“Dammit Stiles! Stop it.”

“...”

“Don’t do it.”

“But Daaa-aaaaaaad,” Stiles whines, sinking deeper into the lounge chair next to the couch. Dad is hunched over his laptop, looking like he wishes he could put a mute button on Stiles. Stiles knows he’s pushing it, but he’s so bored he doesn’t care. 

Sophia has been at Lydia’s for almost three days straight, fucking their way through the honeymoon phase they’re in, and Stiles is bored. Scott and Isaac are both busy, Erica told him he could come over if he wanted to babysit, which Stiles declined immediately.

So he’s resorted to bothering his dad, almost incessantly. Dad is, to say the least, not very happy.

There’s a knock on the door that interrupts Stiles’ mental preparation for his next round of whining, and his dad heaves an intense sigh.

“Come in!”

Derek opens the door, eyebrows pushed together in confusion.

“Derek, thank god! As your boss, I am asking you to take Stiles out of this house. I don’t care where you take him. Drop him off in Oregon for all I care, I can’t think with him being this loud,” Dad says, gesturing angrily in Stiles’ direction. Stiles’ jaw drops, offended, and Derek snorts.

“Come on, Stiles. I’ll make you dinner,” Derek says, walking right back out the door. Stiles sits there for a minute, before realizing that he hasn’t been grocery shopping yet and there’s really nothing for dinner. He glares at his dad and then bolts up, following Derek out the door.

Derek’s wearing a soft looking sweater and jeans, but he’s driving the squad car, which causes Stiles to give him an odd look.

Derek rolls his eyes as they get in. “The brakes needed to be changed, and I was picking it up when John texted me an S.O.S.,” Derek says, eyes definitely laughing at Stiles. Stiles huffs and says nothing, sitting back in the passenger seat. 

Derek snorts and rolls his eyes, and that is just  _ rude _ . How dare Derek think that Stiles pain is funny.

They get all the way to the preserve, pulling up to Derek’s house, without saying anything else. It’s out of spite at first, but it’s a comfortable silence, and Stiles relaxes after a while, enjoying the ride. 

Derek gets out of the car, but Stiles doesn’t move, lost in thought. Derek comes around the car and opens Stiles’ door, looking concerned.

“Stiles, are you okay?” 

Stiles looks at Derek, and decides he’s just going to rip the bandaid off.

“So, are you planning on kissing me again, ever? Because I kind of really want to do that again,” Stiles blurts out. Derek’s eyes widen, and he kind of stares at Stiles, like his brain is buffering. Stiles sighs and looks away, feeling a little embarrassed for asking. 

Derek tugs his arm, pulling Stiles out of his seat, and closes the door behind him. Stiles looks at Derek, and Derek stares at him for a second, before springing into action.

He nudges Stiles until his his back hits the door of the cruiser, huddling against him. Stiles’ breath hitches in his throat, and Derek pressed their lips together roughly. It’s such an opposite to their first kiss that Stiles groans, suddenly so turned on that it hurts. Derek makes a noise of approval, and rolls his hips against Stiles’ as he moves to suck a bruise into Stiles’ neck.

Stiles pushes his head back, baring his neck to Derek, which causes him to make a wounded noise, like Stiles is actually killing him. 

“You test all of my patience,” Derek says, low into the hollow of Stiles’ throat. 

“Thank you,” Stiles quips, gasping at the end. Derek finds the spot on Stiles' neck that turns him on like nothing else, and proceeds to abuse the shit out of it. Stiles is a mess when Derek finally decides he’s ravaged that part of Stiles enough, moving his head back to approve his handiwork. 

“I was going to do things right and ask you out, but it’s you, so why would I have thought you would do anything the way normal people do?” Derek questions, dipping back to nip at Stiles’ lower lip. Stiles hisses at the sting of it, but it fades into a moan when Derek licks Stiles' lip in an apology.

“That’s boring, this way we get orgasms faster,” Stiles says, hitching his legs up to wrap around Derek’s waist. Derek pins him to the car, and Stiles moans outright when Derek rolls his hips again, the friction almost unbearable. 

Stiles is rutting against him, kissing Derek hard. It’s tongue and teeth and shouldn’t be as hot as it is. Derek’s got a hand on Stiles’ ass, the other one carding through his hair gently. Stiles grinds against Derek and they both gasp. They find a rhythm and settle into it, rocking against each other, bringing them both closer and closer to the edge.

Derek's hands are pulling his hair and pushing Stiles' hips down at the same time, and it's all too much. Stiles wants to wrap himself around Derek and never let go, feel this close to breaking all the time. Derek is making these little noises that just  _wreck_ Stiles, and he just can't handle it.

It’s all over embarrassingly quickly, Stiles biting on Derek's shoulder as he comes, dragging Derek off the edge with him. 

Stiles pants against Derek, his head resting on Derek’s shoulder. Derek’s still holding him up, and doesn’t even seem like he’s noticed.

“So, we’re doing that again,” Stiles says. Derek snorts a laugh, and picks his head up. He looks  _wrecked_ _._ Stiles feels pride bloom in his chest.

“Oh, are we?” 

“Yes,” Stiles says, nodding his head. “In like 15 minutes. Take me to bed,” He says dramatically. Derek rolls his eyes, but carries Stiles towards the house, nonetheless. 

It’s awesome.

 

-Two years later-

“Stiles, you can’t wear a bolo tie today,” Derek huffs, throwing the tie back in the drawer in their bedroom.

“But,” Stiles starts, but Derek kisses him to silence any protests.

“Isaac can, and will, murder you if you try to wear a bolo tie to his wedding,” Derek whispers, and Stiles dramatically groans, but nods. Isaac would absolutely step on his windpipe if he did that.

“I guess you’re right, I’m much too valuable to be strangled to death by Groomzilla,” Stiles says, laughing. Derek laughs, too, and playfully bites at Stiles ear, which makes Stiles gasp and try to rut into Derek’s hips.

“No fooling around until tonight, where there isn’t an entire wedding party of werewolves in my backyard,” Derek scolds, stepping back. Stiles sighs, but again resigns himself to having to tolerate all the irritations of today.

“Fine, fine. You win,” Stiles says, untangling himself from Derek and declaring that he’s going to go bother Sophia.

She’s in the kitchen, ever so kindly stealing Stiles and Derek’s food to make herself a sandwich.

“I’m starting to suspect that you’re using me for my kitchen,” Stiles pouts, grinning at her a second later as he pulls himself up on a stool. They’ve handed website duty off to Val for the week to help with the wedding, as it’s become a full time job for the three of them, the unanticipated success of it causing them to even have to bring in Danny to help every now and then.

“Not at all, I’m also using for for your scenic backyard, which happens to make the perfect wedding venue,” Sophia says, holding her left hand out dramatically. Stiles gapes at the ring on her finger, and then throws himself around the counter to give her a hug.

“Congratulations!” He says, and she laughs and hugs him back, the biggest smile on her face.

“Thanks! Lydia is already overjoyed at the thought of ordering everyone around in a white dress,” Sophia laughs.

“That’s great, I’m so happy for you guys!”

“Thanks, me too,” Sophia says, hugging him again and simultaneously taking a bite of her sandwich. What a talented woman.

-

The ceremony is wonderful and intimate. Scott and Isaac look like they’re glowing from the sheer joy on both of their faces. Stiles stands on Scott’s right, feeling so happy at his life that he doesn’t know if he’ll survive this feeling.

Erica is sitting off to the side of Isaac, his best woman. She’s in a wonderful light blue dress, her large, pregnant belly making her lean back in the seat. She snapped and tried to bite anyone who suggested she sit in the pew next to Boyd instead of standing by Isaac. Stiles was grateful enough that Lydia found the compromise and suggested Erica sit in a chair places next to Isaac, so that she could still be at his side. Everyone is still apprehensive around her, knowing her due date is less than a month away, and she’s grown incredibly tired of being pregnant.

Derek smiles at Stiles from his seat, and Stiles can’t help but smile back, a warm and familiar feeling swooping in his gut. He’s happy.

After the ceremony, Stiles and Derek are huddled together, smiling and Scott and Isaac have their first dance. Derek leans over and presses a soft kiss to Stiles’ temple.

“I love you,” Derek whispers, wrapping his arm tighter around Stiles. The grin on Stiles’ face feels like it will never melt off.

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to tack the epilogue onto this chapter since it was so short. Thank you to everyone who has read this! There's a small companion piece that I wrote to this that I should be adding as the second part of this series early next week. 
> 
> Come talk to me! jordansaysno.tumblr.com


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